WALES boss Ryan Giggs has revealed his most nervous moment as a Manchester United player.
The date was May 21, 2008, and up stepped the Red Devils legend to take a spot-kick in the penalty shootout against Chelsea in the Champions League final.
Brought on as an 87th minute substitute for Paul Scholes, the 44-year-old – making his 759th game for United – a club record, stepped up with the score 5-5 on penalties.
Recalling the moment, Giggs told the Times: “I was not the kind of player who got nervous, but I remember walking up to the penalty and I was very, very nervous.
“I had a bit of jelly legs walking up… it was a long way from the centre circle.
“It’s because I was an experienced player and you realise how much is riding on that moment.”
But the occasion failed to get the better of the 64-cap Welsh international, who sent Petr Cech the wrong, dispatching low into the bottom right corner.
Former Arsenal striker Nicolas Anelka then immediately had his penalty saved by Edwin van der Sar, earning Giggs his second Champions League title.
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The former PFA Player of the Year said of the Blues: “You knew that when you played that Chelsea team you had to turn up, that you were against a side similar in standard to yourself, and it became all about concentration.
“There were not many mistakes in that [Moscow] game, just two teams fully concentrated, knowing if you made a mistake it could be the difference.”
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United face Chelsea in the FA Cup final next week, ten years after their epic final in Moscow.
Speaking of the upcoming clash, Giggs added: “Once again, two teams who are very similar. From a United perspective if they win it, having come second, it has been a successful season.
“Everybody wants to compete for the Premier League and in Europe — that’s how I feel as a United fan — but it’s definitely good progress when you finish second, having finished fifth the year before.
So it’s a huge game. And two teams that have got one over each other recently in matches. So it’s really a hard one to call.”
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