As he prepares for a potential Champions League debut against Valencia on Tuesday night, Mason Mount has revealed how he is inspired by Chelsea’s 2012 triumph in the competition.
Chelsea overcame Bayern Munich in a penalty shoot-out in the final seven years ago after Didier Drogba’s 88th minute header from a Frank Lampard corner cancelled out Thomas Muller’s goal.
Mount was then a 13-year-old wearing his Chelsea shirt at home and watching the game with his family as Drogba dispatched the winning penalty.
Reflecting on that momentous occasion in Chelsea’s history, Mount, who scored the final goal in Saturday’s 5-2 victory at Wolves, revealed how that success has fuelled his own desire to play in the Champions League for the club.
"It is a historic night in the club’s history, I was at home with my family watching it," Mount said of the final. "I remember every part of the game, Drogba scoring the header and then the winning pen, brilliant night.
"Watching that as a kid, it gives you the extra fire and the goal to want to play in the Champions League because you have seen what the club has done before. I might have had my Chelsea top on. As soon as the game had finished, [it was] straight to bed because I probably had school the next day.
"I just remember all the family watching it and how excited we were, what a game, and you see all the celebrations after and how much it means to everyone, it means so much, and that is something in the history books for Chelsea.
"We have got to start this one off with a win. You have always got to set goals and that was definitely one of my goals to start this season. It was always to come back to Chelsea and work hard to get into the team.
"I knew the Champions League games were coming up so you have always got to set goals and I think you have got to work very hard to try and achieve that. It has been going well and hopefully I can start the next game.
"It is a dream to play in the Champions League and, for me playing in it with Chelsea, it is a massive game. You always want to get that first game under your belt and get that first three points.
"It is a tough, tough group, so we need to start strong and they are a good side. We are at home and we need to take what we did on Saturday into that."
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Mount's manager Frank Lampard was captain in the 2012 final and he will bring his experience as a player into the dressing room.
The 20-year-old says Lampard has not brought up his role in Chelsea's greatest achievement to date, as he aims to not draw too many parallels with the club's most glorious era.
"No, he hasn’t said anything, maybe he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on us," Mount continued. "With the performance on Saturday, if we can keep that going and repeat it [against Valencia] then we will have a good chance of winning.
"Everyone knows what he has done for Chelsea and to play under him, he definitely wants everyone to work hard and play attacking football, and that is what we did on Saturday.
"I think he is happy with our performance, the two goals are the disappointing part but clean sheets is something we will work on. To play under him, you just want to go that extra mile and work harder for him."
Following the Valencia game, Chelsea will welcome Liverpool to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, but Mount says his side have nothing to fear from the Premier League leaders after drawing 2-2 with the Champions League holders in the Super Cup before losing on penalties.
"They are a very good side but look what happened in the Super Cup, how well we played then, it was very solid so I think if we look back at that game, they all played and we played so well I think we should have won in 90 minutes," he concluded.
"We can look at that game and know that we can hurt them and we are solid in defence."
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