FOOTBALL IMAGINES

reunited | jude bellingham & erling haaland

since the day you started working at dortmund, you had been best friends with erling and jude. the two of them were really good friends by the time you joined the staff, but you instantly got along with the two of them, the three of you becoming and inseparable trio.

the three of you were rarely every seen without each other, always eating your meals together, laughing and joking with each other, and also spending a lot of time outside of work together. like jude, you had moved from england to germany from work, so you understood the struggle of what it was like to live away from home, and with erling obviously also living away from home, the three of you made sure that neither of you were ever alone.

so, when it came to the end of the 21/22 season, you knew, after him having told you a while before the close of the season, erling was leaving the club. even though you had an idea, as it was probably the right time to move on, being on of the most sought after talents in europe. but you didn't realise how hard it was going to hit you.

you had fallen in love with dortmund before you even came to the club, and even more-so while you were there. you, yourself, had become a part of the world famous fanbase, so the loss of one of the clubs best players was obviously going to hit you really hard from a fan's perspective. but it also meant way more than that. a man, who you considered to be one of your best friends in the entire world, was moving away, and who knew when you were going to see him again.

it was hard to say goodbye to him. the day of his final game for dortmund being the most emotional of them all. the fans, the staff, everyone involved in the club, absolutely adored him, and there would forever be an erling sized hole in the club especially for you and jude. 

as much as you had each other, it was still very difficult for you both to not have him there, as he was such an integral part of your time in dortmund so far. the both of you are also finding it hard to deal with the fact that he was away in your home country, doing absolutely amazing in the premier league, but you were still in germany, watching it wall unfold from a distance.

that was until the champions league fixtures were announced. you and jude were sitting at your usual table in the cafeteria, the empty chair across from you leaving your heart with a heavy feeling inside of it every time you looked at it, as you watched the group draw.

"we're getting man city, you know," you said, looking at jude as you took a bite of your meal.

"you think?" he raised his eyebrows at you in question. "to be honest i wouldn't be surprised if we did, it feels almost written in the star."

your eyes were pretty much glued to the screen as you watched the champions league draw take place. a sharp intake of breath coming from bother you and jude when you saw borussia dortmund pulled. you heart also sank a little when you saw, flashing on the screen behind the announcers, that the only group you could be put in was group g, the group with man city in it.

"told you," you said, as it was announced officially that you would end up facing man city.

"bittersweet really, innit. i mean, we have to play quite possibly the best team in the world, but i guess we get to see erling again, right," a small smile was on his face as he shrugged his shoulders. you nodded in response, excited to see erling, but terrified of what could happen in the game, especially since erling was in such incredible form. 

---

the day of the game came around much quicker than you thought it would, and since losing to rb leipzig at the weekend, your nerves could not have been higher.

you met up with the rest of the staff and the team a couple of ours before you were set to travel to the stadium, just to run over the schedule, lineups etc.