Terry hurting badly but can hold his head high

There were some Chelsea players who did not deserve to be on the losing side.

Frank Lampard ran himself to a standstill, Wayne Bridge made run after run and Eidur Gudjohnsen had the Monaco defence hitting the panic button when he was on the ball.

For John Terry, though, defeat seemed particularly unjust.

American gridiron legend Joe Namath once said: "When you win, nothing hurts." Well, Chelsea lost and you could see Terry was hurting badly.

When the final whistle sounded everything drained out of the young defender. He put his hands on his head and looked out at the night. The expression on his pale face summed it up - complete devastation.

Carlo Cudicini was quick to offer a word of solace but Terry just stared, hoping that it was a nightmare and he was about to wake up. Eventually the reality of the situation sunk in. He took off his shin pads, pulled down his socks and trudged wearily towards the Chelsea fans.

He duly acknowledged the supporters before walking slowly towards the tunnel, pausing briefly to shake the hands of his manager, Claudio Ranieri.

It was not Terry's fault that Chelsea had turned a winning situation into a losing one. You could blame Ranieri's tactics in the first leg, you could fault the profligate finishing in the second but no way could you lay the blame at this young man's door.

Even when the match was deep into the second half and the position looked desperate, Terry remained a colossus. And when he took a whack on his ankle which left him in pain on the turf, he gritted his teeth, climbed to his feet and returned to his station.

"The goal just before half-time killed us," said Terry. "We were a bit deflated after that."

Terry went on to talk about Chelsea's improvement this season but you could tell his heart wasn't in it. "If we finish second in the Premiership it will be an improvement but there is no silverware," he said. "It will be fantastic for the club but the only thing you want are trophies. You dream of winning things and when you don't, it's frustrating."

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