Jude Bellingham believes the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal on Wednesday is “a night made for Real Madrid”.
The reigning European champions are aiming to overturn a 3-0 deficit from last week’s first leg in which they were well beaten at Emirates Stadium.
But Madrid midfielder Bellingham is confident his side can turn the tie around at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (20:00 BST) and add another chapter to the club’s illustrious European history.
“I’ve heard it a million times since last week, I’ve seen a million videos – it’s really motivating stuff,” the England international told a media conference on Tuesday.
“It’s a night that’s made for Real Madrid.
“A night that would go down in history but also something that people are familiar with around this part of this world. Hopefully we can add another special night.”
Real Madrid have lost by three or more goals in the first leg of a European knockout tie on five previous occasions.
The only time they came from behind to progress was in the 1975-76 European Cup, when they recovered from a 4-1 defeat by Derby County in the last 16 to win 5-1 at home and go through 6-5 on aggregate.
They have never achieved a comeback of this scale in the Champions League era – but Bellingham believes they can rise to the challenge at home.
“There’s not a lot you can do for Real Madrid in the Champions League that hasn’t already been done,” the 21-year-old said.
“Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to do something for the first time, so that’s really important to us.”
Bellingham’s England team-mate Declan Rice was the Arsenal hero last Tuesday, scoring two of Arsenal’s goals with brilliant free-kicks.
Rice had never scored a free-kick in a professional match, and Bellingham said he was taken aback.
“The free-kicks were surprising,” he said. “I knew Declan could take set-pieces well, corners and stuff, but I’d never seen him do that. Fair play to him.”
BBC