Christian Pulisic says he is ready and excited for Chelsea’s Champions League quarter-final first leg encounter against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday evening.

The 24-year-old was a big reason why Chelsea beat Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals two years ago.

The American scored in the first leg, which ended in a 1-1 tie in Spain’s capital. He then set up Mason Mount with a cross that he scored on to make it 2-0 at home, pretty much putting the tie out of reach.

‘It seems like we have played them every year I have been here so it is a big team, we are excited, have beaten them in the past and are ready for the challenge,’ Pulisic says before recalling last year’s 5-4 aggregate defeat.

‘It could have gone either way for sure. We want some payback and hopefully beat them. You have to beat some good teams if you want to win the Champions League so we are ready for it. We are a confident team, we know we have good enough players to do some damage in this competition.’

‘Are we going to have big fights, tough battles and big teams to play against to get there [the Champions League final], yes. We are ready for it and excited for the challenge.

‘I wouldn’t want to play Chelsea in the Champions League. We were in a similar situation the last time we won the Champions League, halfway through the year. We were struggling in the league and a lot of people were counting us out. Look what happened then.’