'I thought worst things ever': Terry recalls the moment that continues to haunt him even after 15 years

In the 2008 Champions League final against Manchester United, Chelsea legend John Terry missed a crucial penalty, causing him to think "the worst things ever" when he returned to the team's hotel.

To secure the title, all the Chelsea skipper had to do was beat Edwin van der Sar, but he slipped on the wet grass during his run-up and hit the post.

Although Manchester United won the shootout, the enduring image of the evening was Terry sitting on the turf in the pouring rain with his head in his lap. According to the former defender, the miss continues to haunt him even after 15 years.

"You get back to the hotel and you feel like you've let your teammates down. The Champions League is one of those where it's the hardest competition to win... and you're thinking 'I'm not sure we'll get another chance at this'," he said during an appearance on snooker legend Stephen Hendry's Cue Tips podcast.

"You just carry that weight with you. All the players were in the bar after, not celebrating... I just couldn't go down and face them. I had all my family there, I was embarrassed to go down, I didn't want to be around the lads."

He added: "I was just really emotional, and looking back I was in a really bad way if I'm honest. I just remember being in my hotel room and just thinking the worst things ever."

Four years after the painful day when John Terry missed a crucial penalty in the 2008 Champions League final, Chelsea produced one of the biggest underdog victories in Champions League history to finally lift the trophy in 2012.

However, Terry was suspended for the final after getting himself sent off in the semi-final second leg against Barcelona. Despite not being on the pitch, Terry still considers the final to be his "best game" for the club, as the victory avenged the painful day from four years earlier.

"It's funny, a lot of people say to me, what's your best game for Chelsea? It would be the 2012 Champions League final when I didn't play... bizarre isn't it! I suppose because of the hurt of it all, and it just meant so much," he said.