Cole fired by memories of Belletti's moment of Glory

If Ashley Cole needs an extra incentive to help Chelsea win the Champions League final against Manchester United, he need only look across the dressing room at Juliano Belletti.

Cole has tried to banish the painful memories of losing the Champions League final with Arsenal two years ago, but he has a constant reminder at the club's training ground every day.

Arsenal were holding on for extra-time against Barcelona in Paris, only for Belletti to score the Spanish club's winner with 10 minutes left, leaving Cole heartbroken.

After such a hammer blow the England left-back could have been forgiven for never wanting to see Belletti again. But as fate would have it Chelsea signed him from Barca in August.

Now Belletti will line up alongside Cole at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on May 21 and the Blues star will use his presence for inspiration.

"I don't want to be in the same situation as last time and lose.

No-one remembers the losers. I want to go there, get my hands on the trophy and pick up a winners medal this time," Cole said.

"Before the game, nobody expected us to win. We had so many young players, we had a man sent off, went 1-0 up, should have been 2-0 up but then Belletti comes along and scores - which I hear about all the time.

"Because we lost, I try not to think about it too much - but now I have got the chance to wipe all that out by getting a winners medal this year." All the talk around Stamford Bridge since Chelsea were pipped to the Premier League title by United has been of gaining revenge in Russia.

Cole admits the Blues are delighted to have the chance to make amends so soon.

"Everyone was really disappointed about losing the title, but no-one is going to dwell on it because we have got a big game in Moscow next week," he said.

"We give United credit because they have probably deserved it at the end of the season to win the league. But this is now something completely different.

"We are not going to Moscow to be second best, we are going there to win. The players are focused and guys like JT and Didier have always said they wanted to win it. Now is the chance.

"Of course United are going to be confident after winning the league, but we will go there looking to get one back on them.

"As players, you want to win either the Premiership or the Champions League, and now we have a great chance to do that." Chelsea can take heart from the superb 21-match unbeaten run in the second half of the league season that kept United under pressure until the final minutes of the campaign.

Yet Cole concedes that momentum will count for nothing in the white-heat of a battle for Europe's top club prize.

"We may have had the stronger finish, but we did not win anything.

Manchester United ended up winning the title," he said. "The hunger and determination is going to be there from us, we will fight all the way and it would be a great way to end the season.

"To win the Champions League would make up for the disappointment of last week." More than just European glory is riding on Chelsea's showdown with United.

Avram Grant may not survive if the Blues return from owner Roman Abramovich's home country without the trophy, while Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, whose futures remain uncertain, could opt to stay in the aftermath of a famous victory.

With so much at stake, Cole is hoping Belletti's Champions League luck hasn't run out just yet.

He said: "Juliano has been on fine form in training and looked good when he has played, and he could always get another one of those lucky goals!"

Sapa-AFP