Champions League Final specialist ready to inspire Arsenal to their greatest achievement | OneFootball

Kai Havertz believes Arsenal’s Premier League triumph has given the squad extra confidence heading into Saturday’s Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain as they attempt to complete a historic double in Budapest.

For Havertz, the occasion brings familiar emotions. Four years ago the German forward scored the winning goal for Chelsea against Manchester City to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time in his career. Now he has the chance to do it again for Arsenal as Mikel Arteta’s side chase the only major trophy the club have never won.

“For me, there are obviously positive emotions,” Havertz said this week. “I cannot wait to play that game and bring the trophy home to North London.”

Havertz is one of only a handful of Arsenal players with experience of winning a Champions League final and believes those memories can help the squad prepare for the biggest game of their careers.

“I can only give them good memories of myself, so maybe that helps,” he said. “I just cannot wait to be in Budapest and to play that game.”

The 26-year-old still regards Chelsea’s 2021 triumph as the defining moment of his career.

“For me personally, as a kid I could have never dreamt that I would score a goal in the final and win that game,” he said.

“It is a moment I will never forget. I will always be proud of it. I just try to take that feeling to Saturday and hopefully I will get that feeling again.”

Arsenal arrive in Hungary transformed psychologically after finally ending Manchester City’s dominance to win the Premier League title. Havertz believes that breakthrough has changed the mentality around the squad.

“We have finally won the Premier League,” he said. “I think that gives us a big boost as well.”

Asked whether Arsenal should be considered favourites or underdogs against PSG, Havertz dismissed the discussion entirely.

“It doesn’t matter if you are an underdog or whatever,” he said.

“We are going to go on the pitch and give everything to beat them.”

Havertz’s own season has mirrored Arsenal’s resilience.

The German finished last season as Arsenal’s top scorer despite missing the final months with a serious hamstring injury. Then came another setback when a knee injury on the opening day of this campaign delayed his return until the New Year after two operations and further muscle problems.

“It feels amazing,” Havertz said of reaching another final after such a difficult period physically.

“To be fair, I just thought about it the other day because obviously I was in a bad place when I was injured.

“But all the players and staff, they helped me believe in myself and to get back to my best.”

He admitted the hardest part of recovery was the isolation away from football.

“I had two surgeries and was in a brace for weeks,” he said. “You are just inside a building. You cannot go out. You cannot walk; you do nothing.

“For me, things shifted when I went out on the pitch for the first time. Then you can feel the grass again, you can put your boots on again.”

Despite only eight starts since returning, Havertz remains an important figure for Arteta heading into the final, whether he starts against PSG or is again used as one of Arsenal’s “finishers” from the bench.

Arteta’s faith in him has been crucial throughout his Arsenal career after uncertainty followed him from Chelsea, where his best position was constantly debated.

“A very, very big impact,” Havertz said of Arteta.

“He was the one who brought me to the club and he taught me so much stuff on the pitch and off the pitch as well.

“I am very thankful for that time, how he helped me a lot when I had difficult moments.”

Some of those moments extended beyond football. Last season Havertz and his wife Sophia were subjected to vile online abuse, including threats directed towards their unborn child following Arsenal’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester United.

Through it all, Havertz largely stayed silent publicly and continued playing.

That calmness has long defined him. Away from football, the German is known for his love of animals and charity work supporting donkey sanctuaries near his hometown of Aachen, while he also taught himself piano to switch off from the pressures of elite football.

Now, though, the focus is entirely on Saturday night and the chance to make history with Arsenal.

“Along with the Premier League, it is probably the hardest competition to win,” Havertz said of the Champions League.

“There is just so much history with it.

“To actually play in it is unreal and I think we are all very happy. You need to get there, and then you still have to make that step and win it.”