PORTO, Portugal (Reuters) – Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta praised goal-scorer Kai Havertz whose first-half strike gave the Blues a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the final of Europe’s premier club competition at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao on Saturday.
Havertz latched on to a superb pass from Mason Mount to score the only goal of the game three minutes before halftime as Chelsea were crowned European champions for the second time in their history.
“He deserves that, tough season, (but) his mentality is top, this guy,” Azpilicueta told BT Sport after busting in on a post-match interview with Havertz.
“He’s going to be a superstar, he is already, he gave us the Champions League. Not only that, he ran like crazy, that’s teamwork, that’s why he deserves this,” he added.
Spain international Azpilicueta has waited a long time to achieve his dream of raising the trophy with Chelsea.
“I came here in 2012 after the Champions League win and of course I wanted to repeat that and tonight, just amazing, my family is here, it’s a special, special day,” he said before the prize-giving ceremony.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; editing by Clare Fallon)
