Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard would never have predicted his night against Swansea in the semifinal second-leg would come to an end in quite the fashion that it did.
The Belgian playmaker was shown a straight red for kicking out at a ball boy who was trying to kill some time by lying n top of the ball and help his Swansea side progress into an historic final, which they did rather comfortably in the end, 2-0 on aggregate.
Hazard defended his actions saying he was just trying to kick out the ball from under the ball boy's body, and did not aim the boot towards the kid.
"The boy put his whole body onto the ball and I was just trying to kick the ball and I think I kicked the ball and not the boy. I apologise," Hazard told the club's official website.
"The ballboy came in the changing room and we had a quick chat and I apologised and the boy apologised as well, and it is over. Sorry."
Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez, while not exactly defending his player's actions, also laid the blame on the ball boy.
"The ballboy knows he was wasting time," he said. "We are disappointed to lose the player but we cannot change things. They both recognise there was a mistake.
"The boy was apologising for time wasting. Hazard was frustrated and tried to get the ball. He was kicking the ball and getting the ball.
"We can analyse it for half an hour but we know that both are wrong."
South Wales police questioned the boy in question along with his father but said they would not be taking any further action.
"The police have interviewed the boy and his father and there are no charges going to be pressed, as far as they are concerned that is the matter closed," a Swansea spokesman said.
"The ballboy has been into the Chelsea dressing room after the game and shaken hands with Eden Hazard. The likes of John Terry and Frank Lampard were exemplary in their behavior in welcoming him into the dressing room.
"Chelsea asked if he could come in and our kit lady took him in and they shook hands, he is fine.
"As far as we are concerned the matter is closed. He has been a ball boy here for six years with no incidents here at the stadium."
