Didier Drogba stunned the celebrating Chelsea locker room to silence as he addressed the Champions League trophy on Saturday night. With the flag of the Ivory Coast draped across his shoulders, Drogba leapt on to a table in the centre of the dressing room.

"Why have you avoided us for such a long time?" he said, almost berating club football's greatest prize. "Flirting with us, eluding us."

He spoke of "Barcelona in 2009", of "Moscow" the year before, eventually focusing on the chronology of the evening.

"It was like he was praying to the cup," Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck told the Daily Mail.

"It was almost a religious experience. He talked about Barcelona - not this year's Barcelona, but the previous time - and about Moscow. It really was a lot of fun."