Erik Lamela says he is ready to put an injury-ravaged season behind him and make history with Tottenham by lifting the Champions League trophy in Madrid.
The Argentine has suffered a recurring hamstring injury in the latter part of the campaign, causing him to miss out on the final months of Spurs’ Premier League season.
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He also missed the first leg of the team’s sensational Champions League semi-final against Ajax that set up Saturday’s showpiece final with Liverpool, making a brief appearance from the bench as the team recovered from 3-0 down to progress.
And despite a fragmented season, he has been declared fit to play a part at the Wanda Metropolitano, as boss Mauricio Pochettino looks to lift the first trophy of his career and bring Europe’s top prize back to north London.
“I'm feeling good,” said Lamela. “I still have a few more days to train after tomorrow to arrive in the best condition.
“We've prepared well. We've trained hard and we are ready mentally and physically. It's been good for the team.
“It's been a difficult [season]. When I pick up a new injury, with everything that I've lived through in my career now with the injuries, it's difficult. It's part of the game no? Sometimes it happens to me, sometimes to other players.
“I hope now to enjoy this game because it's like a present I've been given after such a difficult period I've been through. I'm preparing myself to give my best.”
“The last two months I've finished the season with just the last two games and it's been hard. The last part of the season is the most important, no? But now it's an opportunity we need to take.
“We talk among ourselves that it's a great opportunity to be in the history of this club and that's what we want. We're trying to arrive in the best condition, the best feeling and I think I am confident we're going to play a very good game.”
Spurs have more than once looked set to exit the competition this season, having made a disastrous start to their group-stage campaign by losing two of their first three matches.
Pochettino’s team recovered to qualify for the knockout stages on the final matchday, before late drama against Manchester City - where the team survived a disallowed City goal in stoppage time - and Ajax edged them into the final against the odds.
And Lamela thinks it is the indomitable belief of the players that has carried the team to Madrid.
“Of course, we always believed," he said. "This team always fights and all the players believe. Now in the final, we believe more than ever.”
