Real Madrid’s ‘greedy’ Jude Bellingham ready for dream Champions League final

MADRID – Jude Bellingham’s first year at Real Madrid started in unbelievable fashion amid a whirlwind of goals, but the ending could be more incredible still.

With the Spanish league title in the bag, Real are aiming for a fifth La Liga and Champions League double, against the England international’s former team Borussia Dortmund in the Wembley final on June 1.

“It’s such a big game, my first Champions League final, back home in England against my old team – it’s a crazy one, I couldn’t have dreamt it any better,” Bellingham said.

The 20-year-old midfielder was voted La Liga’s Player of the Season on May 29. Bellingham scored 19 league goals and four in Europe on the way to the final.

Arriving at Real last summer, he revealed his love of former midfield great Zinedine Zidane and even took the Frenchman’s No. 5 shirt in homage.

However, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti had other plans for Bellingham, a classy central midfielder at Dortmund, putting him straight into the space vacated by striker Karim Benzema’s departure.

It paid instant dividends, with 13 goals in his first 13 games, getting him off to a flying start with Real’s fans quick to serenade him with The Beatles song Hey Jude.

Did he anticipate this kind of impact? “I came here because I wanted to win, and to expect it,” he said.

“It’s a bit greedy almost, but you have to be confident when you’re playing with so many great players.”

Bellingham often delivered in key moments but his goal-scoring slowed as Ancelotti tasked him with more defensive responsibility, chastened by a loss against Atletico Madrid – their only defeat in La Liga.

There were some concerns around his fitness towards the end of the season following an ankle injury, but he says he feels “very close” to 100 per cent after resting once Real claimed the title.

Bellingham joined Dortmund from Birmingham City aged 17.

Initially outshone by teammates Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland, he still managed to establish himself as a regular starter in his first season in Germany.

Dortmund coach Edin Terzic praised Bellingham’s maturity, saying he could “hardly believe that he’s only 17”.

Before his final season at Dortmund, he was included in the captaincy group, alongside skipper Marco Reus and Mats Hummels. He led them out against Cologne in October 2022, aged just 19, becoming the youngest captain in Bundesliga history.

Bellingham then established himself as a world-class talent at the 2022 World Cup, driving England to the last eight.

Following that, Dortmund took the 2022-23 title race to the wire but lost out to Bayern Munich on the final day, with the midfielder named Bundesliga Player of the Season.

A fortnight later, Bellingham joined Real for €103 million (S$150.5 million).

“He plays very grown-up football, even though he’s so young,” said Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi this week.

“I’m very happy for Jude, he played a great season,” added Emre Can. “But on the pitch, we think just about winning for our club.”

Record 14-time champions Real are firm favourites though, and if they win, what is next for Bellingham?

“Hopefully the European Championship,” he said. “I just talked about being greedy... (but now) I’m focused on the final.” AFP