Kai Havertz scored his second goal in a UEFA Champions League final on Wednesday against PSG at Puskas Arena, and the strike put him alongside Lionel Messi on two final goals. It was the kind of mark that changes the way a player is remembered in this competition: Havertz has now scored in both Champions League finals he has played.
The search for a ucl score is landing on Havertz for a reason today. His goal followed the one he scored for Chelsea in the 2021 UEFA Champions League final against Manchester City, when he delivered the game-winning, title-clinching finish. Two finals, two goals, and both came on the biggest night in club football.
That puts Havertz in a small group of players with multiple goals in Champions League finals. Lionel Messi is in that group too, with two final goals of his own — his first came in 2009 when Barcelona beat Manchester United in Rome, and his second came in 2011 at Wembley Stadium in a 3-1 win over the same opponent. Messi did not score in Barcelona’s 3-1 win over Juventus in the 2015 final, even though he won four Champions League titles in his career.
The comparison is sharper because Messi reached more Finals but did not score in all of them. He missed the 2005-06 final because of a muscle injury, played in three finals overall and still finished with two goals. Havertz, by contrast, has scored in every Champions League final he has appeared in, a perfect record that now sits beside names such as Samuel Eto’o, Sergio Ramos and Desire Doue. Cristiano Ronaldo’s four final goals and Gareth Bale’s three still stand above Havertz’s total, but the German has already done something few players can claim: he has delivered in both finals he has reached.
What comes next is the part no stat line can answer. Havertz has given himself a place in a very short list, and if he reaches another Champions League final, the standard he has set will follow him there.
