Jude Bellingham reveals Wembley moment where he knew Real Madrid would win Champions League final
Jude Bellingham has revealed the freaky moment where he knew that he was going to win the Champions League final with Real Madrid. After stellar debut season the England star returned to Wembley with Los Blancos where they were due to face his former club Borussia Dortmund for the biggest prize in European football. Jude Bellingham thought that Real Madrid’s Champions League win was written in the starsGetty Undoubtedly the biggest game of his career to date, Bellingham admitted that he was feeling the pressure but the Birmingham City fan took comfort after being reminded of a memorable moment from 13 years earlier. That one moment on the morning of the game convinced him that it was going to be his day. Speaking on his ‘Out Of The Floodlights’ documentary on his YouTube channel, Bellingham said: “There’s nothing like the buildup to a Champions League final – absolutely nothing like it. “It was a late kick-off so before football you don’t really know what to do with yourself. “Nacho (Real Madrid’s captain) doesn’t like any football to be on but obviously because we’re in England it was the Sky channels and the game that they were playing was Arsenal verses Birmingham in the Carling Cup final of 2011. “Just from that I thought ‘we’re going to win today’. “Just from that – what are the chances that the first-ever final that I went to, my standout memory as a child – I was there at Wembley and now however many years later playing my first Champions League final and I couldn’t believe it. “Nacho then turned it off – that was gutting but as soon as he finished his brekkie it was back on!” In 2011 Birmingham City shocked Arsenal by recording a 2-1 victory in the Carling Cup final at a jam-packed Wembley with Obafemi Martins famously winning the clash in the dying moments. While it was a confidence-boosting moment for Bellingham, the midfielder spoke of just how significant the pressure was in the buildup to the Champions League final. A rerun of Birmingham’s League Cup win over Arsenal was playing in the Real Madrid hotel Bellingham was delighted with the win after suffering nerves like he’d never experienced beforeGetty Bellingham said: “By the time the game rolls around I felt the magnitude of it and I felt a bit jelly-legged and that’s the first time that’s ever happened to me. “I was like ‘what’s going on’, it was really strange. You can almost feel all the cameras on your face, zooming in at my ankle and my shoulder just to make sure that everything was alright. “It’s just a different atmosphere – it’s just that buzz and you can feel the excitement, you can feel the pressure just loading and you get a real feeling of ‘oh my god, this is huge’. “You’re in the tunnel ready and I remember the wait being ages and Lenny Kravitz was performing but you can’t hear a thing – you’re literally just stuck there in the tunnel looking around at each other and thinking who is going to break first.” Of course Real Madrid came out victorious with a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund thanks to goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jr with Bellingham getting an assist. It topped off a dream first season at the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid won the LaLiga title, the Spanish Super Cup and the Champions League with Bellingham being the club’s top scorer with 23 goals.
Jude Bellingham has revealed the freaky moment where he knew that he was going to win the Champions League final with Real Madrid.
After stellar debut season the England star returned to Wembley with Los Blancos where they were due to face his former club Borussia Dortmund for the biggest prize in European football.
Undoubtedly the biggest game of his career to date, Bellingham admitted that he was feeling the pressure but the Birmingham City fan took comfort after being reminded of a memorable moment from 13 years earlier.
That one moment on the morning of the game convinced him that it was going to be his day.
Speaking on his ‘Out Of The Floodlights’ documentary on his YouTube channel, Bellingham said: “There’s nothing like the buildup to a Champions League final – absolutely nothing like it.
“It was a late kick-off so before football you don’t really know what to do with yourself.
“Nacho (Real Madrid’s captain) doesn’t like any football to be on but obviously because we’re in England it was the Sky channels and the game that they were playing was Arsenal verses Birmingham in the Carling Cup final of 2011.
“Just from that I thought ‘we’re going to win today’.
“Just from that – what are the chances that the first-ever final that I went to, my standout memory as a child – I was there at Wembley and now however many years later playing my first Champions League final and I couldn’t believe it.
“Nacho then turned it off – that was gutting but as soon as he finished his brekkie it was back on!”
In 2011 Birmingham City shocked Arsenal by recording a 2-1 victory in the Carling Cup final at a jam-packed Wembley with Obafemi Martins famously winning the clash in the dying moments.
While it was a confidence-boosting moment for Bellingham, the midfielder spoke of just how significant the pressure was in the buildup to the Champions League final.
Bellingham said: “By the time the game rolls around I felt the magnitude of it and I felt a bit jelly-legged and that’s the first time that’s ever happened to me.
“I was like ‘what’s going on’, it was really strange. You can almost feel all the cameras on your face, zooming in at my ankle and my shoulder just to make sure that everything was alright.
“It’s just a different atmosphere – it’s just that buzz and you can feel the excitement, you can feel the pressure just loading and you get a real feeling of ‘oh my god, this is huge’.
“You’re in the tunnel ready and I remember the wait being ages and Lenny Kravitz was performing but you can’t hear a thing – you’re literally just stuck there in the tunnel looking around at each other and thinking who is going to break first.”
Of course Real Madrid came out victorious with a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund thanks to goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jr with Bellingham getting an assist.
It topped off a dream first season at the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid won the LaLiga title, the Spanish Super Cup and the Champions League with Bellingham being the club’s top scorer with 23 goals.
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