Mikel calls on UEFA to overturn final bans

John Obi Mikel has said UEFA should scrap the rule banning players from the Champions League final after Chelsea prepared to head to Munich without four key players.

Chelsea’s stunning success in Barcelona on Tuesday night, where they managed to subvert football logic as they came back from two goals down with 10 men to reach the decider was tempered slightly by the fact they will be severely weakened by suspensions for the showpiece occasion.

John Terry can have few complaints after he was rightly sent off for ridiculously planting his knee into Alexis Sanchez’s back, but there was sympathy for Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires and Raul Meireles after they picked up yellow cards in the Nou Camp that will see them miss the final.

With centre-backs David Luiz and Gary Cahill struggling for fitness, caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo will have his work cut out to pick a competitive side, and Mikel believes it is unfair players should miss out on what could be the highlight of their careers through suspension.

“The yellow cards should be cancelled going into a final and UEFA should look into that,” he said.

“When you get to the final everyone wants to see the best players and it’s a shame that JT, Ivanovic, Meireles and Ramires won’t play.

“The John Terry one was soft from what I saw and for me it was a yellow card. Did Sanchez make the most of it? I think he did. Alexis did the same to me as well. He got me yellow carded, there was just a little touch and he rolled on the ground like 10 times.

“The four players were devastated in the dressing room. They’re happy for the team, but are very disappointed to not be participating in the final.

“We will definitely go out to win the trophy for them now.”

And Ivanovic admitted to his devastation after being told he would miss the final in a post-match television interview, claiming he did not know he was one booking away from a ban. He said: “We can’t talk about the referee’s decisions, but to be honest, inside it feels like someone has taken something from your career. But we have to believe and go through this moment and be together like a team.

“My booking? I got it for kicking the penalty spot before the penalty [which Lionel Messi missed]. It was strange. I didn’t even know I was in the danger zone with the yellow card and was told in a television interview afterwards. But I have to be positive. Nobody believed we’d get through this game and we did. Yes, Chelsea can win it without us. We have a very big squad, with fantastic players. Everyone is an international and it doesn’t matter who plays if we go into the game with the same mentality we showed here.”