“It’s funny” - Ex-Chelsea star Juan Mata explains why he missed 2012 Champions League final penalty vs Manuel Neuer

Former Chelsea star Juan Mata explained his penalty miss in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final against Manuel Neuer. He opened up to FourFourTwo in an exclusive interview about that iconic penalty shootout.

The Blues won their first-ever UCL title that night, defying the odds in the penalty shootout against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. The scoreline remained at 1-1 after extra time, but keeper Petr Cech came up with two big saves in the shootout to help Chelsea win 4-3.

Earlier on, the Blues were on the brink of defeat, with Bayern leading 1-0 for the majority of the game. However, in the 88th minute, Mata played a corner into the box, and legendary Ivorian striker Didier Drogba headed home to even the scores.

Drogba also gave away a penalty in extra time, and Dutch winger Arjen Robben stepped up to take it. Fortunately, his blushes were spared, as Cech denied Robben to keep the scoreline intact.

Even though Mata was one of the most important contributors in Chelsea's run to the final, he was the only player to miss a penalty in the shootout.

“It’s funny, because our goalkeeping coach told me that Manuel Neuer would go to the left when a left footed player took a penalty and I was planning to listen to him and put it to his right, but at the last minute I had the feeling Neuer would go to that side and I changed my mind. That’s why I missed," Mata explained.

Mata would go down as a Chelsea icon, bagging 33 goals and 57 assists in 135 games across all competitions for the Blues.

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"It was a miracle" - Chelsea icon Juan Mata reflects on their 2012 Champions League victory

Chelsea icon Juan Mata reflected on their 2012 UEFA Champions League victory, calling it a miracle, in a recent interview with FourFourTwo.

The Blues only managed a sixth-placed finish in the 2011-12 Premier League, firing Andre Villas-Boas in March 2012 and hiring Roberto di Matteo as the interim.

The sacking of Villas-Boas was right after their 1-3 defeat to Napoli in the first leg of their UCL Round of 16 matchup. Under Di Matteo, however, they won the second leg 4-1 and secured their progress into the quarters.

Mata recalled the entire situation, saying:

“In the last 16, we lost 3-1 in the first leg at Napoli and Villas-Boas was sacked; two weeks later we won 4-1 in London. The semi-finals against Barça could also be the subject of a book: John Terry’s sending off, Lionel Messi’s missed penalty… it was a miracle. Then the final against Bayern was in Munich, which seemed impossible."

When asked if it was the last opportunity for many of Chelsea's players to win the Champions League, he admitted:

"No doubt about it. Didier Drogba said it wasn’t easy to reach a Champions League final at his age. John Terry missed it because he was sent off at the Camp Nou, but it was a culmination of their careers – they deserved it for everything they’d given not just to Chelsea but to football."