Although a young team on paper, the Blues have achieved much in recent months. Success in the UEFA Conference League was met with jubilant celebrations in May, while our FIFA Club World Cup triumph continued to showcase our squad’s development at the highest level, beating Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in the final.

Although the skipper agrees that winning teaches you many things, Reece is also a firm believer that set-backs can also be useful as you look to develop as a resilient player and squad. James knows that it will be key as we begin a new Champions League campaign tomorrow night against Bayern Munich.

‘You learn more when you don’t come out on top,’ Reece began, speaking during his pre-match press conference in Munich.

‘There was more to take from the campaigns where we got knocked out in the round of 16 or the quarter-finals. I played against Bayern in 2020, and they destroyed us, to be honest. Days like that and nights like that will help me going into tomorrow’s game.’

And as he prepares to lead us out at the Allianz Arena in the heart of Bavaria tomorrow evening, Reece believes that his side is more than ready for the challenge, with our recent successes propelling us forward.

He added: ‘The club has had change [since winning the Champions League in 2021] but I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s a bad thing as we qualified for this competition last season and went on to win two trophies (the Conference League and Club World Cup).

‘With the changes, we started slowly but last season we came on leaps and bounds.’