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Declan Rice has opened up about his development into an “important player” as Arsenal prepare for a historic Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Having already won the Premier League title, the English midfielder is now focused on completing a legendary double in Budapest.
Reaching the most important occasions
Rice is no stranger to European success, having previously captained West Ham to Europa Conference League glory.
However, as he prepares to lead Arsenal’s midfield in the Champions League final, the stakes have never been higher. The 27-year-old believes he has developed the temperament to thrive when the world is watching, and considers himself a specialist on the big stages of world football.
“I’d like to say I’m a great player,” Rice said in an interview with uefa.com during the build-up to the final.
“When you play in the most important competitions, you need your players to take a step forward at every moment, and not just me. I think our team has done that in recent years in important games; we have taken a step forward, especially in the Champions League. There are some of us who have that in us, and we are going to need it also facing the final.”
Learning from the final anguish of the past
While Rice experienced the best of lifting a trophy in Prague with the Hammers, his career has also been marked by several painful final defeats, including two European Championship defeats with England.
Instead of letting those failures weigh him down, the midfielder uses them as fuel to ensure he never experiences that “pain” again.
Rice insists that each defeat is very useful for the challenge posed by Luis Enrique’s PSG.
“I have lost quite a few finals: two Euro Cup finals, the League Cup final. It hurts because when you reach a final you want to win that trophy. But also all the small defeats you suffer serve you very well. It makes you more hungry to want to go and win things, and I hope we can continue doing that,” said the midfielder.
Chasing a historic double in Budapest
With a Premier League medal now secured, the focus is squarely on the “beautiful trophy” that has eluded Arsenal throughout their history.
After losing to PSG in the semi-finals last season, Rice is convinced the Gunners have learned the hard lessons needed to go one step further this time. He believes the team is ready to “empty the tank” to ensure they finish the season on a high.
“PSG is a really good team. We played them in a two-legged match last year. It could have gone either way. What did we learn from the defeat in the semi-finals last season? That we have to take advantage of the opportunities, because we had many,” Rice warned.
What an opportunity!
Rice was instrumental in Arsenal’s campaign to the Premier League title, ending a 22-year drought for the Gunners. He scored four goals and provided seven assists in 36 appearances in the competition.
The 27-year-old understands that reaching the Champions League final represents an unmissable opportunity to finally win the title that has eluded his team.
Rice said: “It’s the biggest competition in football. The Champions League final, it doesn’t get any bigger than that. What an opportunity, what an opportunity. It’ll be the last club football kick-off of the season, so we’ll come out on top and give it absolutely everything.”
FIFA World Cup 2026: How to watch
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Spread across three countries, the tournament will culminate with the final on July 19 at the New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. All 104 matches of the tournament will be broadcast live on FOX (70) and FS1 (34) and each match will be streamed live and on-demand on both FOX One and the FOX Sports app. A record 40 matches, more than a third of the tournament, will be broadcast in prime time on FOX (21) and FS1 (19).
The June 11 opening match between Mexico and South Africa (3 p.m. ET) will be streamed for free on Tubi, as will the United States’ opening match against Paraguay on June 12 (9 p.m. ET).
