Jude Bellingham, a fan favourite at Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. - © Christof Koepsel

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Jude Bellingham and the three best players to play for Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid

31.05.2024

Jude Bellingham has lit up the Santiago Bernabeu since swapping Borussia Dortmund for Real Madrid, but is he the best player to have turned out for both clubs?

Dortmund set up a mouth-watering final with Real Madrid after beating Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 on aggregate. Real then edged Bayern Munich to keep up their half of the equation.

"At Wembley, against Dortmund, it's a weird one, I can't believe it," said Bellingham after Real beat Bayern 2-1 on Wednesday, but a date with destiny now awaits.

Bellingham isn't the first player to have turned out for both finalists. bundesliga.com takes a look at three of the best…

3) Nuri Şahin

Third on our podium is Nuri Şahin, who broke through at BVB as a teenager, becoming their youngest ever debutant a few weeks inside his 17th birthday back in 2005 - a record that was later surpassed by Youssoufa Moukoko.

Şahin, now one of Edin Terzić's assistants, was part of the Jürgen Klopp-led Dortmund who beat Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2011, but instead of sticking around for a repeat the following season, left for Real that summer.

Nuri Şahin (r.) was keen to play under José Mourinho (l.) at Real Madrid in 2011. - imago sportfotodienst

Injuries curtailed his progress at the Bernabeu, and after a disappointing spell with Liverpool he returned to BVB, initially on loan, in 2013. His second spell brought with it a Supercup, DFB Cup and a run to Dortmund's previous Champions League final in 2013.

2) Achraf Hakimi

Achraf Hakimi made the journey in the opposite direction, emerging as a Madrid academy graduate but really making his name in European football when on loan at BVB for two years between 2018 and 2020.

He arrived as a European champion - although one who only featured twice for them in the Champions League in 2018 - and soon set about making up for lost time, lifting the Supercup in 2019 and amassing 12 goals and 17 assists across two seasons. Not bad for a right-back!

Watch: Hakimi's best goals and assists for Dortmund

Hakimi has since played for Inter Milan and PSG, and was on the wrong side of Tuesday's 1-0 loss to BVB in the Champions League semi-finals, which gave his former employers a 2-0 win overall.

1) Jude Bellingham

Bellingham may only have been at Real for what feels like 10 minutes, but neither of the aforementioned are likely to argue with the Englishman topping this list.

While Sahin and Hakimi only really succeeded at one of the two clubs in question, Bellingham has rapidly gone from one of the brightest young prospects in world football at Dortmund to arguably the game's best player in Madrid.

Watch: Bellingham left an indelible mark at Dortmund

The Englishman racked up 132 appearances for BVB despite leaving as a 19-year-old last summer. Since arriving in Madrid, he has blossomed from a more advanced position in midfield and boasts 23 goals and 12 assists from 41 games - enough to see Bellingham awarded LaLiga's Player of the Season in his first campaign in Spain.

"It could only happen like this," he said of the June showpiece at Wembley. "It's my first final, in England, against Dortmund. Credit to them, they deserve their place in the final. It will be nice to see some old friends."