Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich told David Luiz: "I don’t want to see your face"

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Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich didn't even want to look at David Luiz before the Champions League final back in 2012 – asking the defender to leave him alone with his nerves.

The then-25-year-old defender went on to score Chelsea's first goal in the shootout following Juan Mata's opening miss – putting them on the path for their first major European triumph.

Before that vital intervention, there was no guarantee that the former Benfica defender would be able to play following a hamstring injury that kept him out for over a month in the lead-up.

Despite ending up a club icon thanks to his notable efforts throughout the 120 minutes and penalty shoot-out, Abramovich was too nervous to exchange pleasantries before kick-off.

The 34-year-old told the Daily Mail: "I perhaps should not have played, but some special people encouraged me to take that step, to play even though I was not fit.

"They told me not to be scared. There was big pressure after that."

In the absence of suspended skipper John Terry, Luiz lined up at the back alongside Gary Cahill with Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole making up the defence.

Before the encounter, a chat with Abramovich wasn't as friendly as Luiz might've expected.

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Luiz continued: "Roman Abramovich spoke to me on the day of the game and asked, 'How is your leg?' I told him, 'It does not matter, I play with my head and my heart'.

"He said, 'Go away, I don’t want to see your face, I am so nervous!' I said to him, 'Don’t worry, we will win'.

Following this history victory, Luiz reflected on what might've been had his injury come back to bite him, with Paulo Ferreira the only defender on Roberto Di Matteo's bench.

He said: "But it could have gone badly wrong. Imagine if I’d been forced off after 10 minutes, or I made a mistake for a goal because I could not run? It was a big, big decision."

Before adding: "I was the only Brazilian in this game, that meant a lot. I had many things in my head trying to block out the pain — the dream, the love, the adrenalin.

"After the game, with the trophy, no one cared about my leg, not even me. It was only in the middle of the night when the adrenalin wore off that the pain returned."

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