From non-league to Champions League - Raya's fairytale rise

From non-league to Champions League - Raya's fairytale riseImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, David Raya has won the Premier League with Arsenal and European Championship with Spain after starting out with a loan spell at SouthportByNathan EdwardsBBC Sport journalistPublished1 minute agoCommentsSaturday afternoon. Kick-off approaching. Preparations complete. Crowd filing in. Excitement building.David Raya fastens his gloves and breathes out.But this is not the Champions League final. This is Moss Rose, home of National League side Macclesfield Town and a teenage Spanish goalkeeper is embarking on a journey that will lead him to the biggest stage in European football.In front of fewer than 1,500 spectators, Raya was part of a Southport side beaten 3-0 by Macclesfield in September 2014.Now aged 30, he is set to become only the third person to make the journey from non-league football to the pinnacle of Europe's biggest club competition when Arsenal face holders Paris St-Germain on Saturday as they try to win their first Champions League title.Raya will join Steve Finnan and Chris Smalling in achieving that feat.Full-back Finnan, who lifted the 2005 title with Liverpool, had earlier played for Welling United in the National League, while centre-back Smalling turned out for Maidstone before going on to be an unused substitute when Manchester United lost the 2011 final to Barcelona.Even people who have witnessed the journey from a 19-year-old making his first-team breakthrough - after joining Southport on loan from Blackburn Rovers - have struggled to envision Raya's rise.Paul Carden, Southport's former assistant manager, said: "I don't think anybody could have predicted or scripted it. You wouldn't be 100% surprised, but you wouldn't have put a bet on him."To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedFigure caption, David Raya's saves during Southport's 1-0 FA Cu...