A heartbroken Daniele De Rossi apologised to fans and teammates for missing a penalty in “the worst moment of my career.”
The quarter-final could have been blown wide open if he had converted the spot-kick just 30 minutes in, but Carlos Tevez scored in the second half to secure a 3-0 aggregate victory for Manchester United.
“At the final whistle I apologised to the fans for the missed penalty,” revealed the Giallorossi born and bred midfielder.
“I was a little emotional at that moment, not so much for the incident, but because they were still chanting my name at the end of the match.
“That means so much to me, especially after such a nightmare of a game.”
De Rossi has scored a powerful penalty in the World Cup Final and again to defeat Genoa 3-2 on Saturday, but this time hit it over the bar.
He took over spot-kick duties in Francesco Totti’s absence, but was not comforted by the fact even a legend such as Roberto Baggio missed an important penalty.
“That is scant consolation,” he sighed. “I am so upset about this, it is one of the worst moments of my career.
“In any case, we played a great Champions League this season and now, just as the fans were singing to us, we will try to win the Scudetto.”
