The 2008 Champions League final marked the first-ever time that Europe’s biggest match was contested by two English sides.
Fittingly, the clash between Manchester United and Chelsea would be played in the pouring rain and would be tense, gritty affair that was settled on penalties.
It would be the Red Devils who lifted the trophy at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow that night, 50 years on from their maiden triumph in the competition, with Sir Alex Ferguson having to rely on some of his star names keeping their cool from the penalty spot.
Nani on his role in the penalty shootout win
When Nani stepped up to take his side’s fifth penalty, he knew there was no margin for error.
His compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo had missed his spot kick, meaning that if Nani failed to find the back of the net, Chelsea would celebrate their first-ever European Cup win.
“It was a delicate moment,” Nani recalls to FourFourTwo. “Your whole life flashes through your mind during those few metres from the halfway line to the penalty spot. The pressure is obvious, especially when you know there’s no margin for error.
“I knew I had to make a decision, not hesitate, and hit the ball with confidence. Petr Cech was a huge goalkeeper – he even guessed which way I’d shoot and got a touch, but thankfully it went in, and the story had a happy ending.”
Ronaldo’s blushes were spared following his miss, as John Terry and Nicolas Anelka would then fail to convert, so did Nani’s compatriot thank him for dispatching his spot kick?
“No, no, because we didn’t win thanks to me,” Nani continues. “We won because of the team, because of Edwin van der Sar, who saved Nicolas Anelka’s penalty, and because of all the others who took their penalties and scored.
“That season we were very united as a group. Anyone could miss, but there were always others ready to lift you up. That’s what made that moment so special.”
Nani added four Premier League titles to his Champions League winners’ medal during his time at Old Trafford, but which trophy meant the most?
“The Champions League is incomparable – it stands in a category of its own,” he admits. “We went through the streets of Manchester on an open-top bus, touring the city, which was overflowing with joy.
“Seeing the fans celebrating like that – singing, thanking us – was genuinely beautiful.”
