Real Madrid facing any team in LaLiga not named Barcelona is often billed as a David-versus-Goliath fixture.And fittingly for Espanyol – who are based a stone’s throw away from the Nou Camp – they are spearheaded by an Englishman who has slingshot his way from the Championship to Spanish stardom.Espanyol’s English winger Dolan hit the ground running with a goal on matchday oneGettyTyrhys Dolan, in his own words, has already achieved his childhood dream and yet he continues to create pinch-me moments.The latest of which came in Espanyol’s opening game of the season, firing home the third and final goal in the club’s 3-0 win over Levante.Their return to the RCDE Stadium on Saturday will see them come up against none other than Real Madrid, who have yet to get their domestic campaign underway.Espanyol ‘feeling confident’ against Real MadridLos Blancos did the double over Espanyol last term, but their postponed matchday one fixture due to several of their stars going deep in the World Cup has opened the door for the Parakeets to spring a shock.“Yeah, I’ve been saying that. I’ve been saying I feel like it’s a good time to play them,” Dolan enthusiastically told talkSPORT.com.“We’ve got the love back for playing football after missing it in the off-season. The buzz is back around football again.“Some of them have been playing throughout the summer and stuff. Like you said, we’ve got one competitive game under our belt, and we’ve got a win. So I think it’s a really good time to play them and we’re feeling confident.”Dolan’s heroics in Espanyol’s LaLiga opener have been just reward for a gruelling pre-season in which, ironically, he’s begun to mirror a Real Madrid winger who made his name in England before undergoing a dramatic transformation during his second year in Spain. “I probably had two weeks where I just did nothing really,” he added. “But then you’re kind of straight back on it for the next four weeks.Dolan and Espanyol fancy their chances of causing an upset against MadridGetty“Then you’ve got a seven-week pre-season,” Dolan continued to talkSPORT. “So it’s like the work kind of doesn’t stop really.“But I like to keep working. Of course, the mental switch-off is needed, but I end up missing it once I’m at a couple of weeks off.”Dolan on journey from Blackburn to SpainIt’s been a much more straightforward summer for the 24-year-old compared to last year, when he decided to move abroad to join Espanyol after bringing an end to his five-year stay at Ewood Park.Dolan recalled: “It was all like in the blink of an eye. I remember having the call with them on the Tuesday about the interest, and then come Thursday I’m on a flight, and I asked the question of like, ‘Am I flying and then am I coming back and like getting my thing sorted?’“They’re like, ‘No, no, no, get everything sorted. Once you sign, it’s ready to go.’ So I was like, wow, like it’s a 40-hour turnaround, and your life just changes like that, and then you need to like get a car, you need to get a place to live.Dolan has undergone a remarkable transformation since his Blackburn tenureGettyA full pre-season has given the 24-year-old the perfect platform to take his game to the next levelGetty“It’s not easy at all. Like you’re going from hotels to apartments and stuff. It’s a lot.“I think now I feel better knowing that I’ve got my home. I’ve got a fan base that knows what I can do. They love me. “I’ve got a team that are quality, and they support me and a manager that now believes in me because he’s seen me do it for one season. “I just think now for me, it feels so much better. I feel like I’m going into it seasoned with also more tools to my trade. “An actual pre-season under my belt; the first year, I was just training on my own. So, yeah, definitely a big, a big change within myself this year that I feel more confident about.”Proud moment facing Real MadridDolan, who is from Broadheath in Greater Manchester, trod a path few English players take – especially in joining a club like Espanyol.The Catalan outfit are among the founding LaLiga members, but the last Brit to play for them was ex-Everton star Adrian Heath in 1988.It’s been a meteoric rise to the top for Dolan, who was on loan at non-league side Clitheroe five years before playing at the Bernabeu.“It’s just a proud moment,” he said of facing Madrid last season. “But then just interacting with some of the players after the game and stuff, it’s just a really, really nice feeling. “And a lot of them are at the top of the game, and they’re giving you some gems.”One of those came from Jude Bellingham, who pulled his fellow Englishman for a chat after the game.Dolan enjoyed his battles with fellow Englishman Bellingham during Espanyol’s clashes with Madrid last seasonGettyBellingham is a ‘top and humble human’“We had some mutuals, but me and him had never had that conversation until we’d played him for the first time.“Just obviously a world-class player. And, you know, it’s great to be sharing the pitch with him. But like I said, a top and humble human.“We had some good conversations after the game. Just a really, really top guy. You can see in the way he carries himself that that’s just in his nature.”Bellingham knows the journey of going from playing in the EFL to Spain’s top divisionInstagramBellingham’s support has continued in the months since, regularly ‘getting the most interactions when he’s dropped a little comment’ on Dolan’s Instagram. “But no, it’s nice for him because he doesn’t need to do any of that.“I think that he felt as well that another English player coming to the league and doing well, like I think he respected it because I feel like for me, watching him, it kind of kicked down that door of like making that abroad move and not just staying in your comfort zone.”By Dolan’s own admission, he doesn’t get starstruck – but that’s not to say he’s unaware of the magnitude of being involved in Jose Mourinho’s first competitive game back in the Madrid dugout.“No, he’s a legend,” Dolan told talkSPORT. “He is a legend, I’ll be honest. But it’s just an exciting game.“These are the games that you do want to play in; it speaks for itself really when you talk about these fixtures. So yeah, just excited for it. And we feel like we’re ready.”Dolan played 38 games for Espanyol last season across La Liga and the Copa del ReyAFP“We tackle it as any normal game. We kind of like to keep the same routine because that’s all we know come match day.“But to the outside world and your friends and your family, they think like, ‘Oh my God, like you need to do this, you need to do that.’“For us, just keeping that plane sailing, knowing that it’s just another team of 11 players that obviously hold a lot of quality, as everyone does in this league, and we just need to do what we can do. “But yeah, I’ve got a lot of family and friends who want to come out for this game,” he added, smiling.The chance to make historyEspanyol have never had an English goalscorer against Madrid in the 97 years since the club first helped establish LaLiga.But facing a team renowned for Bellingham’s outstretched arms or Kylian Mbappe’s crossed ones, Dolan has a signature celebration of his own if he does indeed write himself into the history books.“I might even hit the double backflip! “This weekend I might have to bring two out, but no, no matter who I score against, it’s that joy. “I’ve achieved my childhood dream, so I could score against the bottom of the league or top of the league, and for me it genuinely feels the same. “I just buzz whenever I do something that helps the team, and it boosts the kid in me, because that’s all I thought about when I was younger.“So, yeah, hopefully this weekend I can have a reason to pull it out there again…”