John Terry being knocked out by Abou Diaby during Chelsea vs Arsenal in League Cup final | OneFootball

Chelsea will be looking to win their sixth League Cup when they face Liverpool in the showpiece event at Wembley on Sunday.

The west London club have ‘won it all’ in recent years but the League Cup is one competition that often avoids the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet.

Chelsea’s last triumph in the League Cup was in the 2014/15 season but that’s their only win in the competition for 14 years.

In fact, they’ve won more Premier Leagues, League Cups and Europa Leagues during that time.

Their previous triumph before 2015 came in the 2006/07 campaign when they overcame Arsenal in a thrilling final.

Didier Drogba’s two goals sealed a 2-1 victory in a match that will be remembered for a clash between both sets of in injury-time resulting in Mikel John Obi,  Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Touré being sent off and Frank Lampard and Cesc Fabregas getting booked.

But the match is also remembered for a sickening incident involving John Terry and Abou Diaby.

Five days previously, Chelsea captain, Terry, ruptured his ankle and had to be stretched off in a Champions League tie away to Porto. It was miraculous that he managed to be fit for the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in the first place.

While Terry showed incredible desire and determination just to make the starting line-up, that continued on the pitch in the final.

The saying ‘putting your body on the line’ couldn’t be more apt when it comes to Terry. He would do anything during a match to help Chelsea win a game. And when the opportunity to score arrived in the second half of the League Cup final with the scores at 1-1, Terry wasn’t afraid to put his head where it hurt. Quite literally.

As Arsenal failed to deal with a corner, Terry attempted to score with his head with the bouncing ball. Unfortunately, at the same time, Arsenal’s Abou Diaby attempted to volley the ball away.

It resulted in a sickening clash as Terry was knocked unconscious by Diaby’s boot.

The Guardian states that “Terry swallowed his tongue, stopped breathing and was left concussed”. He was treated for five minutes on the pitch, given oxygen and stretchered off. There was serious concern for the defender.

Chelsea went on to win the final thanks to Drogba’s late goal but Terry only had one thought on his mind – getting back to the stadium to celebrate with the team.

“I remember the minutes I played and I remember the incident up to seconds before I headed the ball,” recalled Terry. “I actually thought I was going to score and I am still disappointed I didn’t, to be honest! But I don’t remember too much after that.

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“I just remember waking up in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. I didn’t know where I was, I asked where and then what the score was, so they radioed through and found out we were winning. As we got to the hospital I said I am fine and I wanted to get back as soon as possible.”

Remarkably, Terry was seen in the dressing room afterwards joining in the jubilant celebrations.

VIDEO: John Terry joins in dressing room celebrations

“I went out to the celebrations that night but after that, I slept for a whole day with our doctor coming round to check I was okay, so it must have taken something out of me,” he explained.

“I didn’t watch the whole game back, but I have seen the goals and the celebrations and when it all kicked off between some of the players near the end.

“I have seen my incident back many times when Diaby made contact and then checking I was okay. It ended well, I was fine and we won the trophy.”

Meanwhile, Diaby believed he had ‘killed’ the centre-back.

“I was really scared. I thought I’d killed him. I was on my knees. You can see pictures of me praying,” Diaby told Arsenal’s official YouTube channel.

“He was laying down, unconscious. But someone came over and said he was ok.

VIDEO: Diaby thought he had killed Terry

Remarkably, a week previously, Diaby’s brother predicted something like this would happen to Terry.

“It’s strange,” Diaby added. “A week before the final, I was watching a game with my brother.

“I think Chelsea were playing Newcastle. I could see [Terry] was putting his head in at the free kicks.

“The defender was kicking the ball and I said to my brother ‘this guy is crazy’. ‘One day, someone will kick his face’.

“And the week after, it was me.”