Chelsea came a whisker away from winning the 2008 Champions League final against arch-rivals Manchester United. First-half goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard meant that the game ended in a 1-1 draw and resulted in extra time. Both sides were unable to score during extra-time and the game subsequently went on penalties.
Ronaldo missed his spot-kick and Terry famously was to kick Chelsea’s fifth penalty. Had the former Blues captain scored, they would have won the tournament. However, he famously slipped and directed his shot wide. Edwin Van Der Sar subsequently went on to save substitute Nicholas Anelka’s penalty during sudden death and the Red Devils were crowned Champions of Europe.
This game was Avram Grant’s final match as Chelsea manager with the Israeli’s contract being terminated by the club just three days later. The players who all played that day are in different places right now.
Petr Cech
Cech is currently playing for Arsenal and is second-choice to Bernd Leno under Unai Emery. He is due to retire at the end of the season and will no doubt go down as one of the Premier League’s greatest keepers of the past generation.
Michael Essien
Essien left Chelsea permanently in 2014 and joined AC Milan. Currently without a club, the 36-year-old E is technically not retired from professional football. He was last on the books of Indonesian club Persib Bandung for whom he made 29 appearances before being released in March 2018.
Persib’s chief executive Zainuri Hasyim said that the former Ghana international was released as the club had already reached their maximum quota of foreign players.
Ricardo Carvalho
Carvalho was brought to Stamford Bridge by Jose Mourinho in 2004. He went on to have a six-year spell with the club before joining Real Madrid in 2010. He is now retired from football and was last playing for Chinese club Shanghai SIPG back in 2017.
John Terry
After spending 19-years in the Chelsea first-team, Terry left the club during the summer of 2017 and surprisingly signed for Championship outfit Aston Villa. During his only season playing for the club he nearly helped them to win promotion to the Premier League before they lost the promotion playoff final against Fulham.
Terry hung up his boots in 2018 and is currently Aston Villa’s assistant manager to Dean Smith.
Ashley Cole
Cole left Chelsea in 2014 and joined Italian side AS Roma. After leaving Roma, he spent two years in the United States with LA Galaxy. He is currently playing for Derby County under the management of former-team mate Frank Lampard.
Claude Makelele
The 2008 Champions League final was Makalele’s final game in a Chelsea jersey. He subsequently joined PSG before retiring in 2011. He is currently managing Belgian club Eupen.
Michael Ballack
Former Germany captain Ballack played for the Blues from 2006-2010. After his time at Stamford Bridge came to an end, he returned to his homeland, playing in the Bundesliga for Bayer Leverkusen before retiring from the game in 2012. He has made appearances on ESPN as a television analyst.
Frank Lampard
Lampard who is regarded as one of the greatest Chelsea players in history left the club during the summer of 2014 and signed with American club New York City. He ended up signing a loan deal with the American club’s English connection Manchester City which was intended to help him maintain fitness. However due to his good performances at the age of 36, he ended up spending the entire 2014-15 seasons with the Cityzens.
During his time with the Cityzens, Lampard scored against Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in September 2014. The goal earned City a 1-1 draw at the Etihad. New York City ended up being his final destination as a professional player and Lampard retired in 2016.
He has been managing Championship club Derby County since the beginning of the current season and has drawn praise for the work he has done so far. It will not be surprising to see him one day being named as Chelsea manager.
Joe Cole
Cole played for the Blues from 2003-2010. After leaving the club, he had spells with the likes of Liverpool, Lille, West Ham, Aston Villa, Coventry City before retiring while on the books of American club Tampa Bay Rowdies in 2018.
After retiring from professional football, the 37-year-old has returned to Stamford Bridge in a coaching capacity.
Florent Malouda
Malouda left Stamford Bridge in 2013 and went on to play for Trabzonspor, Metz, Dehli Dynamos and Wadi Degla. The 38-year-old still plays and is on the books of Luxembourg club FC Differdange.
Didier Drogba
Arguably Chelsea’s greatest striker of all-time, the Ivorian had two spells for the club. The first ended in 2012 when he left to join Chinese outfit Shanghai Shenhua. After leaving the Far East, he joined Galatasary the following year.
In 2014, Drogba returned to Stamford Bridge, aged 36. This time his role was to act as cover for then first-choice forward Diego Costa. After ending his second spell with the Blues after one season, Drogba went to the United States and played for Montreal Impact and Phoenix Rising. He ended his professional career with the latter in 2018, aged 40.
