Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves has recalled the “awful” interview he had with former Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in 2012, where he revealed to the full-back that he would be banned from the Champions League final. It came after the Blues had overcome Barcelona in a 3-2 aggregate win in the semi-finals, booking their place against Bayern Munich at their home ground.
Roberto Di Matteo’s side famously went on to win the game on penalties, with Didier Drogba scoring the deciding spot kick to win a first Champions League for the club. They have won it one other time since, that being last summer’s triumph over Manchester City.
However, during the match Ivanovic had picked up a booking, which when combined with a previous one from another knockout game, meant the defender would be banned from the final in Germany. Despite doing so, the Serbian didn’t know of this until it was revealed by Shreeves in the post-match interview.
