Terry reveals he practiced Panenkas before Champions League final penalty slip

Ex-Chelsea defender John Terry has revealed that he practised Panenkas in training for two weeks before slipping during a Champions League final penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester United in 2008.

The two Premier League teams met in an all-English showpiece at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow after seeing off Barcelona and Liverpool respectively in the semi-finals.

A Cristiano Ronaldo header gave United a first-half lead, but Frank Lampard levelled the scores just before the interval. Neither side could find a winning goal in the second period or in another 30 minutes of added time, and penalties were ultimately needed to decide who lifted the most famous trophy in European football.

Chelsea had the chance to win a first continental crown after Ronaldo missed his kick, but club captain Terry slipped at the vital moment, and saw his effort cannon off the post.

The Red Devils went on to win 6-5 in the shootout when Edwin van der Sar saved from Nicolas Anelka, sparking wilds scenes of celebrations among the travelling fans from Manchester.

The result might have been different had Terry stuck with his original plan, with the former England international admitting that he had worked on chipped penalties in the leadup to the final.

"On the build-up to finals you take penalties, and you go through the routines, and you do the walk from the halfway line," Terry explained during an interview with beIN Sports. "We'd been doing that for two weeks at the training ground, and I'd been dinking them down the middle like the panenka!"

Chelsea went on to win the Champions League four years later by beating Bayern Munich on spot-kicks, but there was more heartbreak for Terry as he missed the final through suspension.

Terry left Stamford Bridge in 2017 after racking up over 500 appearances for the Blues, and hung up his boots a year later after a season in the Championship with Aston Villa. The 39-year-old now serves as Dean Smith's assistant at Villa Park, but has reportedly been linked with the top job at Newcastle amid talk of a Saudi-backed takeover at St James' Park.