Micky van de Ven: “I thought, ‘how am I going to do this?’” | OneFootball

European glory is built on moments - Dyson’s double in 1963, Big Chiv’s rocket in 1972, Parky’s penalty save in 1984 - now we can add Brennan Johnson’s goal and Micky van de Ven’s spectacular clearance off the line in Bilbao to that list.

It was a moment of pure instinct, a breathtaking display of agility - spotting that the danger from a cross hadn’t been cleared, and with Guglielmo Vicario struggling after being bumped in mid-air by Dominic Solanke, Micky naturally headed back to the goal line as Rasmus Hojlund looped a header towards the empty net. The Dutch defender had a millisecond to make up his mind - and somehow got enough airtime to hook the ball away.

Here's his version of events. “In the game, I saw the ball coming, Vic was there, I don’t know what happened, I saw the ball coming back and went to the goal line... the ball went high up in the air, and I thought, ‘how am I going to do this?’. I thought, ‘I just need to try’, and then I got it out of the goal, I don’t know how, but...

“I’m really proud, really happy for this team. What can I say? I have no words. Everyone is talking about the clearance, but everyone is talking about us. Everyone wanted this trophy, and we did it.”

Micky’s moment of defensive magic - and Cuti Romero’s block on the follow up shot - was typical of the night, ensured we kept a clean sheet and that Brennan Johnson’s goal just before half-time was enough to clinch the trophy and book a place in next season’s Champions League.

“I’m so happy,” he added. “The beautiful thing is that everyone kept believing. It’s been a tough season but it’s come to a beautiful end when we lifted a trophy.”

A tough season indeed for Micky, who has been through a lot in terms of dealing with injuries.

Indeed, in the lead up to the final, he talked us through the tough times as he recovered from setbacks against Chelsea (8 December) and Elfsborg (30 January) - setbacks that restricted him to just two appearances between initially getting injured against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on 30 October through to his return against Bournemouth on 9 March. During that time, he was sidelined for 27 matches in all competitions.

“At the final whistle, it was pure emotions that came out,” he said. “Happiness... I’m so proud, also for myself after all the injuries, and struggling, so when the final whistle came it was pure emotions, celebrations. The vibes are unbelievable. I’m so happy.”