Rashford pays tribute to Ronaldo after Man Utd exit
On this day 15 years ago, Manchester United beat Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final. It came down to a penalty shootout in Moscow, with John Terry squandering the chance to give the Blues club football’s ultimate prize. And Cristiano Ronaldo had no sympathy for the iconic defender in the immediate aftermath of the game.
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However, on a rainy night in Russia, Terry slipped and his effort sailed wide with Van der Sar then saving from Nicolas Anelka to win United the trophy.
In the immediate aftermath of the game, Ronaldo was asked about the Blues skipper.
And he had no sympathy for his Chelsea counterpart, merely saying ‘this happens’ as he basked in the glory of a first Champions League triumph.
“This happens,” said the forward.
“Everyone wants to score a penalty but it’s a great feeling when your team win, on penalties, it’s a great moment.”
Ronaldo also admitted he was disappointed to have missed his own penalty - but also put focus back on the goal he scored.
Cristiano Ronaldo had no sympathy for John Terry after Man Utd beat Chelsea (Image: GETTY)
"On the build-up to finals you take penalties, and you go through the routines, and you do the walk from the halfway line,” he said.
"We'd been doing that for two weeks at the training ground, and I'd been dinking them down the middle like the panenka!"
In 2015, Terry also revealed he was still haunted by the memory of his penalty miss - despite going on to lift the trophy in 2012.
“I’ll definitely never be over it,” he said at the time. “I still wake up in the night now and it’s like s***, it’s there and then you go back to sleep.
“It’s eased over the years for sure.
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Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with the Champions League trophy after Man Utd beat Chelsea in 2008 (Image: GETTY)
“But I still have a few times a year when I wake up and, bang, it’s on my mind.
“It’ll never go. It’s one of those things, it’s disappointing, and I was gutted at the time.”
He continued: “The worst thing was, we had England the following week, we played USA at Wembley and I had to go and sit at a table with all the Man United players.
“I was just sitting there fuming.
“I didn’t want to be there. It was a horrible time for me.”