The Spurs defender was on the losing side five years ago as Atletico Madrid were beaten by Real Madrid in the 2014 final.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld has emotionally spoken of how he thought he may never have had another opportunity to win the Champions League again following his loss in the 2014 final.
The Belgium international came on as substitute for Atletico Madrid shortly before Sergio Ramos scored a 90th-minute equaliser for Real Madrid in Lisbon, and Atletico went on to lose 4-1 in extra time.
Alderweireld, who has played a big role in Spurs getting to the final of the competition this season, said he does not want to feel the pain of another Champions League final defeat and will use the experience to spur him on.
“We were so close to winning it,” the 30-year-old is quoted by BBC Sport as saying. “The feeling of losing is very hard. That night I flew to Belgium because we had the World Cup coming up, so there was no time to grieve.
“After the World Cup, when I had time to think about it, I thought it was a big chance, a big opportunity, and maybe it will never come again. I will take this feeling to the final and show I want it more than anyone else.”
Tottenham have enjoyed a heroic run to the final made all the more remarkable by their poor start in the group stage and the fact they were 3-0 behind on aggregate at half time in their semi-final second leg away at Ajax.
They will face fellow Premier League side Liverpool, who themselves had to battle to qualify from the group stage, and then staged a superb semi-final second leg win over Barcelona to book their tickets to Madrid on Saturday 1 June.
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