Bertrand still in disbelief over debut final
Ryan Bertrand admitted not even he believed it when he found out he was starting Chelsea's Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
Bertrand became the first player to make his debut in the rebranded competition's final itself as caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo gambled the club's future on the rookie left-back.
The move paid off as Bertrand ended the night with a Champions League winners' medal around his neck at the tender age of 22.
"When the manager told me I was playing, of course I could hardly believe it, but I knew what I had to do," said Bertrand, who was not even in Chelsea's Champions League squad before Christmas.
"I'm still waiting for someone to pinch me now.
"I tried to relax and go to sleep in the afternoon but had all these images flashing through my mind.
"I was getting all these flashbacks, too, of when I was a kid, growing up in South London, in Peckham, in Bermondsey, tough places, playing against the wall with my mates."
The last player to make his European debut in the European Cup final itself was Aston Villa goalkeeper Nigel Spink, who was thrown in at the deep end after coming off the bench in his side's 1982 triumph - also against Bayern.
Unlike Spink, Bertrand started the night's match out of position on the left of midfield, an incredible show of faith from caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo in a player that had started just 12 senior games for the club.
In fact, until Di Matteo took charge, Bertrand was looking like another Chelsea youngster who would fall by the wayside after spending most of his six-year career on loan.
"I spent time at so many clubs, I wondered at times where my career was going, but I never gave up," he said.
"Ashley Cole has been such a massive help to me too. All the way through. "It was great being out there with him, he kept his eye on me.
"The atmosphere was amazing. Bayern fans outnumbered the Chelsea fans and it wasn't 50-50 in there, there was more like 70% of them, against us, but we stuck in there together and won it.
"It's just incredible."
He added: "I can't believe it, it hasn't sunk in.
"Looking at the experienced players, I am so happy for them.
"I didn't want to go out and let anyone down, especially the manager, and these guys have got what they've always been fighting for."