London: Chelsea captain John Terry has apologised for his red card during his side's 2-2 draw against Barcelona but insisted his dismissal must not tarnish the celebrations after the Blues book themselves a place in the Champions League final.
The centre-back was handed a straight red card in the 37th minute after kneeing Alexis Sanchez in the back while defending on the edge of his area, which now means the 31-year-old is suspended for the final in at the Allianz Arena on May 19.
"Sanchez was darting in behind me at the time. I've seen the replay and it does look bad but I'm not the kind of player to intentionally hurt anyone," Terry told Sky Sports. I've raised my knee which maybe I shouldn't have done in hindsight. Hopefully the people out there who know me as a player and a person know I'm not that kind of player."
"I feel like I've let my team-mates down and I've apologised to them and I want to apologise to the Chelsea fans as well. I don't have any complaints about the red card. At the time I was bewildered because I was trying to protect myself a little bit but looking at it on the replay it does look like a red card."
"No complaints having seen the replay. As I've said I've let the lads down but they've performed brilliantly so hopefully this doesn't take anything away from their performance and the way they worked together as a team."
The dismissal was sandwiched between goals from Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta, that looked to have put the tie beyond Roberto Di Matteo's men. However, Ramires raced on to a fine Frank Lampard through-ball to lob Victor Valdes and give Chelsea a priceless away goal in first-half stoppage time.
Fernando Torres then scored a breakaway goal at the end of the second half to confirm Chelsea's progression, following 45 minutes of wasteful possession by Pep Guardiola's men. Terry believes the club fully deserve their place in the Champions League final and hailed his side's turnaround in the second half of the season.
"Obviously I'm disappointed but absolutely delighted for the lads to come here and perform they way they did and get that result with 10 men," he continued.
"The lads deserve to be there and it is massive and so important for the football club. Three or four months ago no one would have predicted we would be in this position so I am delighted. On a personal note of course I am disappointed to miss the final but believe me it is what this football club deserves.
"We deserve to be in the Champions League final. We have had a bit of luck along the way in this competition so far and long may that continue. The boys were absolutely excellent."
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