Memorable moments: Terry’s slip in the Champions League final that handed United the Eared Cup

John Terry is an absolute Chelsea icon, quite possibly the club’s greatest legend and forever beloved captain. But even he is responsible for a moment he would prefer to erase from memory. And that was the missed penalty in the 2008 Champions League final.

Memorable Moments is a special project by Ruiku that recalls the most iconic moments that have happened in football. Today we look back at John Terry’s missed penalty.

It was 21 May 2008, the Champions League was about to reach its English final. Manchester United and Chelsea were going head to head for the ultimate battle for the club’s most prestigious trophy.

The Red Devils went through to the final against Lyon, AS Roma and Barcelona, while the Blues were knocked out by Olympiacos, Fenerbahce and Liverpool.

Stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand were on the red side, while Chelsea were to pass up their first Champions League triumph to Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.

And fresh Premier League champions Manchester City, who defended their English title just 10 days before the final, started better.

In the 26th minute, right-back Wes Brown moved the ball into the centre of the bench, sent a fluffy centre into the whitewash, which Cristiano Ronaldo pounced on and beat Petr Cech in goal with a header.

But United’s lead didn’t last until half-time. Essien’s shot from distance was twice blocked until it fell in the whitewash to Lampard, who took advantage of a slip by Van der Saar to equalise at 1-1.

We didn’t see a goal in the rest of the game or the opening 30 minutes. The English final came down to penalties.

Penalties

Carlos Tévez was the first to take a penalty kick and converted it. Michael Ballack equalised for Chelsea. In the second series, both Michael Carrick and Juliano Belletti scored.

In the third series, it was Petr Čech’s turn. Cristiano Ronaldo, the late winner of the Ballon d’Or in 2008, was on the ball, and the then best player in the world was mostly right from the spot, and he had already beaten Cech once in the match.

But he kicked the penalty very badly, the Czech goalkeeper read it and knocked it away. This put Chelsea on the back foot, all the more so when Frank Lampard confirmed the lead. Then Hargreaves and Cole scored, if Nani hadn’t scored it would have been over.

But the second Portuguese kept his nerve and scored. Even so, it was the last penalty and captain John Terry was up for it. Everything was in place for the captain to convert the last penalty and lift the first ever Eared Cup for Chelsea.

But God didn’t want it that way. The heavy rain so sprinkled the penalty spot that Terry slipped on his attempt and his penalty bounced off the bar. Anderson’s shot down the middle put Kalou under pressure, but he too converted.

So the legendary Ryan Giggs converted for United and the onus was on Nickolas Anelka. He converted his penalty and, together with Terry, gave the Champions League trophy to the Red Devils.

Source: UEFA, Transfermarkt