Munich triumph wipes away Terry's Moscow misery

Suspended Chelsea captain John Terry admitted he had been waiting nine years to get his hands on the Champions League trophy after the Blues' dramatic win over Bayern Munich in the final.

Didier Drogba was Chelsea's hero at Munich's Allianz Arena on Saturday as his decisive spot-kick sealed the Blues' 4-3 win in the penalty shoot-out to seal Blues' first Champions League crown.

Having been sent off in Chelsea's semi-final return leg at Barcelona last month, Terry was suspended for the showcase final, but went up to collect the trophy alongside stand-in captain Frank Lampard.

Terry captained Chelsea when they lost the 2008 Champions League final on penalties to Manchester United in Moscow and the England defender said the win in Munich made up for the disappointment from four years ago.

"I have been waiting for this moment for eight or nine years, having been knocked out of competitions in the last minute over the years and losing in Moscow on penalties," said Terry.

"It wipes away all the bad memories, the whole way through, and we've had some, year after year.

"It was harder watching, you know what the fans are going through and it's really frustrating.

"I can live with missing the final, because the team won, it's not about me.

"Things are meant to be and I wasn't meant to play, but we went on to win it and for me that is all that matters, because I care about this football club so much.

"To see us win the trophy, that I feel we deserve, and to see the smile on the owner's face and on the fans: they deserve it."

Terry says the 4-1 win over Napoli at Stamford Bridge in the Round of 16 in March was the turning point of Chelsea's season, shortly after manager Andre Villas-Boas was sacked and replaced by caretaker coach Roberto Di Matteo.

"We look back to Napoli, everyone wrote us off, but we believed in ourselves, we went back to the Bridge and got a result," said Terry after Chelsea over-turned a 3-1 first-leg defeat in Italy.

"We have always believed in each other and I think that showed tonight, as we came back into the game with five minutes remaining and put them on the back foot.

"We have so many big players who rise to the occasion, Didier, Lamps and goalkeeper Petr Cech, blimey, what a night for him."

Having joined the Blues in 1998, Terry said winning in Munich is the high point of his career as Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich finally realised his dream of winning the Champions League trophy having bought the club in 2003.

"This is my best night in football, 100 percent," said the 31-year-old Terry.

"The owner came into the dressing room and Didier said a few words too, he deserved this tonight.

"This is a great way to finish the season, with the FA Cup and the Champions League, this will go down as the best season in the club's history.

"The lads tonight were incredible, everyone has come together."