Star Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham is set to join a select number of his compatriots tonight as the Spanish giants kick off their 2023-24 Champions League campaign against underdog Union Berlin.
The 20-year-old wonderkid will become just the sixth English player to feature for the global super club in Europe’s biggest club competition after being included in Carlo Ancelotti’s matchday XI.
Bellingham can now add his name alongside Laurie Cunningham, Steve McManaman, David Beckham, Michael Owen, and Jonathan Woodgate as the only English players to ever feature for Madrid on Europe’s biggest stage, which is an even bigger testament to just how immediately indispensable the player is to his new club as he is the youngest of the lot.
6 – Jude Bellingham will be the sixth English player to appear for Real Madrid in the European Cup/Champions League, after Laurie Cunningham, Steve McManaman, David Beckham, Michael Owen, and Jonathan Woodgate. The 20-year-old is the youngest of the six to do so. Galactico. pic.twitter.com/6eKa793REq
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 20, 2023
The former Borussia Dortmund starlet has already proven to have chosen wisely when he left the Ruhr Valley in the summer to head to the Spanish capital in a €103m move (which could rise as high as ~€139m), with early season performances for the club already having many fans and pundits alike adamant that he is undoubtedly a future Ballon d’Or winner.
Through each of the club’s La Liga fixtures thus far, in which he has featured in 441 of 450 minutes, Bellingham tops both the club’s and the league’s goal charts with five goals while also adding one assist to his name while helping Madrid to a 5-0-0 star to the new campaign and sitting atop the table and ahead of bitter rivals Barcelona.
Given his early season form, it would be fitting for the youngster to open his Champions League account for the club as part of what could very well be one of the best debut seasons in recent memory.
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