From broken nose to Champions League final: David Raya's remarkable journey to Budapest

David Raya will contest the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain at the Puskás Arena on Saturday, almost eight years after a facial collision during a Blackburn Rovers match left him hospitalised and needing reconstructive surgery.

The incident occurred in 2018 when Raya, then a Rovers goalkeeper, collided with West Brom striker Jay Rodriguez. Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray described the scene to BBC Sport at the time: “The bone at the top has been pushed into the skull almost and the nose is sort of hanging off really. The players could not look at it, it was that bad.”

Raya chose to delay the operation until the end of that season after medical assessments suggested the injury was less severe than initially feared. Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph in November 2018, he explained his reasoning: “It’s not impeding me to breathe or anything and if I had the surgery now, I would be out for six to eight weeks.” He wore a protective mask for two weeks on his return to action. Rodriguez, who now plays for Wrexham, later said he was “gutted” about his role in the collision, adding that he had tried to get out of the way before catching Raya with the top of his foot.

The 30-year-old Spaniard’s path to European football’s biggest stage has been anything but straightforward. Before establishing himself in the Championship with Blackburn, Raya played non-league football with Southport, making his rise to Arsenal’s first choice all the more striking.

Last week, Raya became a Premier League champion for the first time after Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace. He also claimed his third consecutive Golden Glove award, recording 19 clean sheets across the season — four more than second-placed Gianluigi Donnarumma. A victory over PSG on Saturday would make Arsenal the seventh English club to lift the European Cup.