Since the Champions League began, we have seen pivotal players miss the biggest game of their season after offering their services for the entire competition. Footballing icons have come close to get their hands on the title but had to experience the match from the sidelines with the urge to go out and contribute.
Last week’s semi-final witnessed another harsh decision as Xabi Alonso’ untimely mistake forced the referee to remove his name from Madrid’s final match in Lisbon.
With Alonso being suspended, we take a look at 10 footballers who have been denied a Champions League final appearance.
#1 Roy Keane (Manchester United) – 1999
Roy Keane played his heart out at the 1999 Champions League semi-final against Juventus. After a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, United came into the second leg as second favourites against a quality Juventus side. The Turin outfit had a positive start as Filippo Inzaghi scored within 11 minutes and put United on the backfoot.
But Roy Keane wasn’t a character who could be subdued as he stamped his superior will on the star-studded Juventus midfield displaying immense leadership and scored an important headed goal. But the Irishman was booked for a tackle on Zidane as he stretched to reach a poor pass from United’s Jesper Blomqvist.It meant that he would not be a part of the squad that would play the final.
But that didn’t affect Keane’s performance on the night as he erased the thought of missing the big game and continued with his game to guide United through to the Champions League final.
#2 Dani Alves (FC Barcelona) – 2009
The 2009 semi-final clash between Barcelona and Chelsea has been described as ‘The controversial battle at the Bridge.’ It saw one of the most bizarre matches where a series of decisions went against Chelsea.
Although Barcelona secured a late equaliser to go through on away goals rule, it was not before Dani Alves was shown a yellow card for a tackle on Chelsea winger Florent Malouda for which he got a freekick even after it seemed like he was tackled inside the box.
Dani Alves missed the final against against Manchester United which Barca went on to win 2-0 and claim their 4th Champions League title.
#3 Pavel Nevded (Juventus) – 2003
The 2003 final was an all Italian affair contested between AC Milan and Juventus. It was labelled as one of the most boring finals in the competition’s history as AC Milan won the match through a penalty shootout after 120 tiring goal-less minutes.
Of course, it had to be boring when the clash was deprived of an iconic footballer like Pavel Nedved. Nedved served a suspension after he picked up a yellow in the semi-final game against Real Madrid when he made a mistimed challenge on midfielder Steve Mcmanaman.
But that didn’t affect the Turin legend’s performance as he was instrumental in defeating a Galactico Madrid side 3-1 on the night, to book a place in the finals.
#4 David Alaba (Bayern Munich) – 2012
A 19-year-old David Alaba announced himself on the European stage in the 2011/12 campaign as he put in a string of impressive performances for Bayern Munich. Playing as a left back, the Austrian contributed immensely for his side both in attack and in defence. While Bayern made it into the final, Alaba missed out on the big occasion.
Alaba was unjustly punished for a handball during the 2nd leg semi-final match against Real Madrid. Bayern won the match via penalty shoot out to book an encounter against Chelsea at the Allianz Arena. The Bavarians missed the defender in the final as Chelsea went on to lift the trophy in Munich’s home stadium.
#5 John Terry (Chelsea) – 2012
Recently, Jose Mourinho stated that the Champions League owed more to his star defender John Terry. Looks like he will have to wait for another year as Chelsea were knocked out this year by Atletico Madrid. But Terry did lift the trophy in 2012, when Chelsea truimphed over Bayern Munich becoming the first London club to win the Champions League. But the blues veteran had to do it after putting on a Chelsea shirt over his locker room outfit.
While defending a 1-0 lead at the Camp Nou, Terry deliberately kicked Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez in the back forcing the referee to send him off for a direct red card offense. This led to his suspension in the final match which he witnessed from the stands.
#6 Franco Baresi (AC Milan) – 1994
In a match that has been deemed as the greatest performance by a team in the competition’s history, Franco Baresi missed the cup final as AC Milan drubbed a much favoured Barcelona 4-0 to win their fifth Champions League trophy. The Milan’s stallion at the back was booked in the 38th minute for tripping Youri Djorkaeff which led to his suspension for the final.
The defender was left heartbroken and his coach Fabio Capello was downbeat. Capello suggested that the rules should be changed as he had no solid figure left to play at the back. Nonetheless, ‘The Invincibles‘ reinvented a new defence for the match against Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream team’ Barcelona and won an epic encounter.
#7 Paul Scholes (Manchester United) – 1999
Paul Scholes joined Roy Keane on the suspension list for the 1999 final. The playmaker who was pivotal for United’s successful season, gave one of his finest performance for the Red Devils but picked up booking after trying to get a misplaced pass from the Juventus midfield, taking out Didier Deschamps in the process.
United emerged victorious in Turin and went on to face Bayern Munich in the historic final which they won 2-1 after a dramatic comeback in the final minutes of the game.
#8 Thiago Motta (Inter Milan) – 2010
Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan had a fantastic treble winning season in 2010 which included the Champions League truimph against Bayern Munich. Although the Italians comfortably won 2-0 on the night, they missed their key mid fielder Thiago Motta for the fixture due to a red card against Barcelona in the semi-finals.
It was the infamous peep-eye incident of Sergio Busquets which turned the Spaniard into a villain among footballing fans. When Motta executed a sliding challenge on Busquets, the midfielder rolled on the ground and demonstrated some fine play acting, covering his face with his hands and peeking through to look at the referee’s decision which was a straight red card for the Italian.
#9 Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) – 2010
Franck Ribery has always been known for his competitive nature on the pitch. The skillfull Frenchman’s aggression worked against him when he was shown the red card in Bayern Munich’s semi-final match against Lyon. Ribery tried to reach a 50-50 pass and stomped Lyon’s Lisandro Lopez on the feet which was a dangerous tackle by any means.
Ribery was banned for three games which meant that he would be out of the final against Inter Milan. His presence down the left flank was badly missed as Bayern suffered a 2-0 defeat against Mourinho’s side.
#10 Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid) – 2014
Last but not the least, Xabi Alonso joined the list of those unlucky stars who missed the Champions League final after his mistimed tackle on Bayern’s Bastian Schweinsteiger. Real Madrid were sitting comfortably with a 3-0 scoreline when Alonso tried to stop Bastian who put his body in the way of the ball.
The referee booked the midfield anchorman straight away who lay on the ground distressed after he realised that his contributions to Real’s journey ended on the night.
0 comments:
Post a Comment