Chelsea first-team coach Henk ten Cate has confirmed that John Terry would not have taken a penalty during the shoot-out at the end of the Champions League but for Didier Drogba's dismissal against Manchester United.

With Chelsea just one successful spot-kick away from winning the cup, Terry slipped in the act of taking his effort, screwing the ball wide of goal. With that, Chelsea's momentum was lost; moments later, so was the shoot-out as well.

Drogba was a bystander to proceedings, sent off after slapping Nemanja Vidic with just four minutes of extra-time remaining. It was very possibly his last action in a Chelsea shirt, and also arguably the pivotal moment of the night. Had a centre-forward rather than a centre-half been Chelsea's fifth penalty-taker during the shoot-out, there may well have been a different outcome.

"John was not in the first five to take a kick but things changed during the game," confirmed Ten Cate. "The sending-off of Drogba made us change it [the order]. It's unbelievable that it should happen to him, though.

"He slipped. We practised penalties so much all last week and he was very confident. We were all very confident. He was not supposed to be in the first five. John stepped up when he wasn't supposed to. But he will be back."