Christensen joined Chelsea from Brondby in his native Denmark ahead of the 2012/13 campaign. So impressive were his performances for our youth teams he was named on the bench for our final league fixture of the season, at home to Everton, just a couple of weeks after his 17th birthday.

A year earlier, the defender was an especially interested spectator as we defeated Bayern Munich in their own backyard.

‘I was with the Danish youth team and we were all watching it together,’ he remembered.

‘Some of the guys were huge Chelsea fans. I knew I was going to sign and it was just something that gave me hope for the future. Now we are in the final I can’t wait to see what happens.

‘My dad was a goalkeeper playing for Brondby, so I’ve always been a football fan and when I was allowed to stay up and watch the Champions League finals when I was a kid it was always great. I had something to speak about to my friends.

‘Football has always been part of my life and it’s been a dream when watching these finals to be in one myself.’

Christensen impressed in both legs of our semi-final victory over Real Madrid before he picked up an injury in the next league game, a win against tonight’s opponents Manchester City.

He is back to full fitness now and his availability will leave Thomas Tuchel with a tough decision to make, but whatever happens the Dane is clear on what Chelsea’s strategy should be in the biggest game of them all.

‘We know they like to keep the ball so we try and take it from them and play our game,’ he said.

‘We’ve stepped up to the occasion and we have been doing good and trying to play our game.

‘I know people say we can use the wins over Man City as something but the final is always different. It’s a one-off game and anything can happen, even like the final against Leicester.

‘Anything can happen, and we just have to step up and play our game.’