Mikel: Suspended Chelsea stars shouldn't have to miss Champions League final

Apr 25, 2012 5:38:00 PM

The Blues midfielder says that the squad will try to win for John Terry, Ramires, Raul Meireles and Branislav Ivanovic, also calling for Uefa to look at the rules surrounding bans

Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has sympathised with John Terry, Ramires, Raul Meireles and Branislav Ivanovic, claiming that players should not be allowed to miss the Champions League final through suspension.

Roberto Di Matteo's side overcame Barcelona with 10 men on Tuesday to set up a final tie with either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, and but will be without their four key men after Terry was sent off and the others reached yellow-card limits.

Mikel feels that semi-final yellow cards should be rescinded, a similar rule to that introduced to the World Cup two years ago.

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"Yes, the yellow cards should be cancelled going into a final and Uefa should look into that," he told the London Evening Standard.

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

"The four players were devastated in the dressing room. They’re happy for the team but are very disappointed to not be in the final. We will go out to win the trophy for them."

Mikel also believes that Terry's red card was unfounded, believing that Alexis Sanchez "made the most" of the contact between him and the Chelsea captain.

"The JT one was soft from what I saw and it was a yellow card. I think Sanchez made the most of it," the midfielder observed.

"Alexis did the same to me as well. He got me yellow-carded. There was a little touch and he rolled on the ground 10 times. He definitely made the most of it."

Ivanovic also bemoaned the referee's decision to caution him, adding that he feels that something has been taken away from his career as a result.

"We can’t talk about the referee’s decisions but, to be honest, it feels like someone has taken something from your career," he stated.

"My booking? I got it for kicking the penalty spot before the penalty [which Lionel Messi missed]. It was strange. But I have to be positive.

"Nobody believed we'd get through and we did. Yes, Chelsea can win it without us if we go into the game with the mentality we showed here."

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