The forward travelled to the USA as part of Enzo Maresca’s squad after returning to Chelsea following a season spent on loan in France with Strasbourg in 2023/24.

This summer, Angelo Gabriel has featured for our new head coach in three of our four pre-season matches so far, coming off the bench against Wrexham, Celtic and Club America.

Now, he is eager to be involved again when we face Real Madrid in Charlotte, North Carolina next time out on Wednesday, not least due to the presence of a couple of his compatriots.

'I am very happy to have this big challenge,’ said Angelo. ‘Games like these are games I prepared for all my life.

'As a kid, I always dreamed of playing against teams and players like these. As a Brazilian, I see Vinicius Junior as an inspiration and then Rodrygo, who is a great friend of mine and an idol, is at Real Madrid too.’

While this may not be a competitive fixture, the meeting of two of Europe’s big clubs like Chelsea and Real Madrid is always going to be an occasion, whatever the circumstances.

This will also clearly be a tough challenge for the Blues, against a side which lifted the Champions League trophy at Wembley a little over two months ago and features several members of Spain’s European Championship-winning side, but it is one Angelo is relishing.

'It makes us happy and motivated,’ added the 19-year-old. ‘And of course, we know it will be a big game, and we know the magnitude that is playing in the Chelsea shirt.

'We are happy and motivated. It’s a huge challenge for us and I'm just happy to be able to play in games that we always dreamed of playing in.'

Tickets are still available to watch Chelsea take on Real Madrid at the Bank of America Stadium in our last game in the USA in 2024, as well as Club Chelsea packages on sale now.