Claude Makelele reveals John Terry STOLE the final-losing penalty off Chelsea's 'best' taker during 2008 Champions League heartbreak - and how the Blues legend grilled Didier Drogba after

Daily Mail​

a day ago

Claude Makelele has opened up on John Terry 's infamous penalty shootout blunder during Chelsea 's 2008 Champions League final defeat against Manchester United.
Terry took what could have been the decisive penalty at the end of a 1-1 draw in the first ever final between two English clubs, but slipped on the run-up and hit the post to send the shootout into sudden death.
Nicolas Anelka went on to miss Chelsea's seventh spot-kick to hand Man United a domestic and European double, but Terry's miss is still seen as the decisive and iconic moment at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
Now, Makelele has revealed that Terry was not initially meant to take the spot-kick but took the fifth penalty off of Chelsea's best taker - Salomon Kalou.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Makelele said: 'It's [Kalou's] turn, but Johnny took [his] ball.'
Ferdinand asked: 'So John Terry took the penalty instead of Kalou to win the game?'
Makelele affirmed, explaining that Terry took the penalty in 'a good way', implying there was no confrontation between the ex-Blues captain and Kalou.
But he explained that Terry's eagerness to be the main man is ultimately why the former defender only has one Champions League title to his name instead of two.
Makelele added: 'Exactly, but it's in a good way. It's in a good way. But the way I see it, Johnny [doesn't] have two Champions Leagues now. Because Kalou was the best penalty [taker] at that time at Chelsea.'
Ferdinand then asked Makelele why he did not interject at the time and tell Terry to allow Kalou to take the penalty instead.
Makelele explained: 'I didn't know [that Kalou was Chelsea's best penalty taker] until later. Because in the game, if I knew this, of course, I would tell John: "No John, [let him take the penalty]."
'But of course, he's my teammate also, no? He [Terry] would be crying [if he was told not to take the penalty] . Because of all the players we lost this game.'
Ferdinand went on to ask Makelele about the impact of Didier Drogba's dismissal in the game; the legendary striker was sent off in extra-time for violent - with the affair level at 1-1 - after slapping Nemanja Vidic.
Makelele said: 'Sometimes it's difficult to talk about this. Me, I'm a [forward] person. Didier, I tell him. Didier, you can't do this. Red card, we're dead. With you, maybe we win before going to a penalty [shootout].
'Because we knew if we went to penalties, you [Man United] have the better players for taking penalties.
Ferdinand replied: 'Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, he would have taken a penalty. Bloody hell. It's true, isn't it? I didn't think about that.'
Last year, Terry revealed on the Up Front Podcast that it was 'probably the worst moment in my footballing career'.
He added: 'I'm still not over it today. I don't think I ever will be. It's interesting because as a player you have so many highs, but it's the lows that stay with you longer.
'That night we lost we went back to the hotel and the manager was asking us all to go down for a drink, but I stayed in my room because I couldn't face the lads. Eventually I went down and had a beer with the rest of the group.
'I just remember standing in my hotel room on the 25th floor, looking over Moscow and asking myself, 'why then, why did it start raining then, why did I slip?
'The hardest thing for me was that three days later we had a friendly for England against USA at Wembley and we drew 1-1 I scored a header from outside of the box. If I could swap any two goals in my career it'd be those two.'
He also previously told Sky in the months after the miss: 'Every morning I wake up, that's the first thing I think about. I am still so desperately disappointed about it.
'But I am a big man with a big character and it is now down to me to deal with that.'
Speaking ahead of the 2008-09 season, he added: 'I'm certainly looking forward to the new season so I can wipe away that bitter disappointment for the club, and especially for me.'
Despite his heartbreak in 2008, Terry did go on to win a Champions League title later down the line.
Despite being suspended for the final, Terry took home a winners' medal when Chelsea overcame Bayern Munich to win Europe's elite club competition in 2012.