Jadon Sancho is preparing to face Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday
Jadon Sancho reacts to his missed penalty during the Euro 2020 final
Jadon Sancho has admitted he is still getting over his Euro 2020 penalty heartbreak as he gears up for a return to Wembley Stadium.
The Manchester United loanee has been a key part of Borussia Dortmund’s run to tonight’s Champions League final, where the German side will hope to upset the odds and deny Real Madrid a record-extending 15th European Cup.
Sancho re-joined his former side Dortmund on loan in January after making just three appearances for Manchester United over the first half of the season and the 24-year-old has started every knockout game in the competition for Dortmund.
Jadon Sancho in action for Dortmund
For Sancho, another Wembley final will bring back memories of the Euro 2020 final when he missed a spot kick in the penalty shootout defeat to Italy after coming off the bench in the 119th minute.
As he prepared for the final, Sancho admitted that he is not yet over the miss.
“It was hard,” he told the Mirror. “The backlash wasn’t nice. Being in London, not in a million years would I have thought we would receive that. It's a memory I try to block but I just have to be positive.
“Its football for you. People say things in the moment I am sure they don’t mean. But they have to realise that when they say those things it does impact us. After that it was the summer break and that summer was hard. Just reflecting: 'Why did it have to be me?'”
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
“It felt as though we’d let our country down. I know we didn’t but that’s how it felt in the moment. Of course I saw the love. And we do appreciate it - speaking on behalf of Bukayo and Marcus. But it is still something in my head sometimes. I don’t think I have fully recovered yet but I’m trying my best.”
The Saturday night clash in north London will be the third Wembley final Sancho has played in since the Euro 2020 defeat, after he came off the bench during Manchester United’s League Cup win last season, before making a late substitute appearance in their FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City later that season.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.
