Kai Havertz: Just to watch the Champions League final is very special, to play in it is unreal'

Kai Havertz recalls Chelsea’s 2021 Champions League final win over Manchester City as a defining moment he never expected as a child. He carries that pride forward and hopes to experience similar success again. Havertz looks ahead to Arsenal’s Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest, where Arsenal are not widely expected to win. He notes Arsenal’s recent Premier League title and his own role, including being preferred over Viktor Gyokeres in recent matches. Havertz emphasizes the history and significance of the final, and stresses that reaching it is only the first step, requiring preparation to win.

"When Kai Havertz thinks back to the 2021 Champions League final, he can't help smiling. Chelsea's surprise victory over Manchester City in Porto still feels like yesterday for the Germany striker. It is something I will never forget, he says. As a kid I could have never dreamed I would score a goal in the final and win that game. I will always be proud of it. I just try to take that feeling and hopefully it will happen again."

"Havertz is looking ahead to Arsenal's final against Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest on Saturday, when not many give them a chance of winning. It was the same when Chelsea, managed by Thomas Tuchel, took on a formidable City assembled by Pep Guardiola that had won the Premier League by 12 points. Chelsea had finished fourth, a further seven points adrift. We were the underdogs on that day, for sure, Havertz says. We hadn't had the best season. But now it is completely different."

"Arsenal arrive having won their first Premier League since 2004 and Havertz, who as part of the celebrations posted a selfie with Win, the brown labrador who resides at the training ground, is in line to start. He has been preferred to the 64m summer signing Viktor Gyokeres in recent games against City and Burnley and is relishing the prospect of playing in European club football's showpiece match for the second time. There is just so much history with it, he says. So many big players played in it, and to be there, to compete to win the trophy, is amazing."

"You need to get there, and then you still have to make that step and win it. It is going to be hard, but we are going to be well prepared. Many observers were surprised when Arsenal paid 65m to sign Havertz from Chelsea two years after his Champ"

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