Jude Bellingham shares pictures of his recovery training at Real Madrid.

The next step on Jude Bellingham’s way to becoming great has been chosen.

Jude Bellingham, who is only 20, seems like a seasoned athlete whose future has been planned since childhood.

He moved easily from his home club Birmingham to Borussia Dortmund, which is one of the best places in Europe to grow young players. Now he’s on the biggest stage of all at Real Madrid.

His rise has sometimes seemed like it was planned, and Saturday’s show at Wembley will have been the only time that felt most like it was real.

Bellingham had an amazing first season at Real Madrid. He led them to the Spanish title and was named La Liga’s player of the year. Now, he has the chance to win the biggest prize in club football, and he can do it against his old team and in his home ground.

To win the Champions League so soon after joining Real Madrid and in such perfect conditions would feel like just one more step on this new Galactico’s path to becoming one of the best players of our time.

As if that chance wasn’t enough, Bellingham will be a star for England at this summer’s European Championship. If everything goes as planned, he could make history by helping Gareth Southgate’s highly-anticipated team win the event.

He would be the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or in 2024 if he won either or both of the awards. Again, being named the world’s best player has long seemed like Bellingham’s destiny because of how good he is, how mature he is, and how mentally tough he is. However, even his biggest fans would say that he is ahead of schedule.

In mind, Bellingham joined Real Madrid last summer for games like this one on Saturday. He will be going into unfamiliar territory, but the Spanish team is trying to extend their dominance in the European Cup by winning it for a 15th time, with manager Carlo Ancelotti aiming for a seventh title as both a player and a coach.

It would be hard to bҽat Gareth Bale’s five European Cups and huge effect in the finals, but the Welshman was never the star at the Bernabeu.

Bellingham is already a celebrity at Real Madrid, while Bale was always second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo. Bale, Steve McManaman, and even David Beckham, who never won the Champions League with the club, were not. The player is very important to Ancelotti’s team, and his teammates treat him with respect, even though he is young.

As usual, Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, and Toni Kroos—who will play his last club game on Saturday—will provide support for Bellingham. The England star will play as a high No. 10 in front of Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo.

Dortmund, led by Edin Terzic, is a big thɾeat, but they kept Kylian Mbappe out of both legs of their semi-final match against Paris Saint-Germain, so they’ll think they can also keep Bellingham and his teammates out.

But Madrid has a strength in this competition that makes it seem like they will win every time. Their late win over Bayern Munich in the semi-finals is a great example of this.

Dortmund does have tools of their own, especially Jadon Sancho, who wants to make things right because he is going back to Wembley for the first time since England lost the Euro 2020 final in a shootout.

As late as January, Sancho had to eat and train by himself at Manchester United. But since going back to Dortmund on loan, he has felt much better. No matter what happens on Saturday, Sancho has already fixed his career and image. His play in the first leg of their semi-final showed that he is still a game-changer at the highest level.

After 10 years with the club, Madrid will say goodbye to Kroos. At the same time, Dortmund will play their last game without their famous German player, Marco Reus.

Both of them are about to retire, which is a great individual storyline that could affect tomorrow’s ?attlҽ. But Bellingham’s continued rise is the most interesting.