Yaya Toure says keeping Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo out in Rome in the 2009 Champions League final is his favourite memory of the competition.
The Manchester City midfielder, who is set to miss the crunch Group E decider with Roma because of suspension, played for Barcelona at the time, with the Catalan club beating Manchester United 2-0 thanks to goals from Samuel Eto'o and man of the match Lionel Messi.
The Ivorian had to play in central defence that night because Dani Alves' suspension forced captain Carles Puyol to play at right-back.
"The final in the Champions League [against Manchester United in 2009] where we were able to play and defend in front of [two of] the top class strikers in the world [Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney]," Toure said.
Now 31, the midfielder was also involved in the controversial semi-final against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that saw Andres Iniesta score a last-minute winner after the Blues had been denied numerous penalty calls.
"The game we [Barcelona] played against Chelsea, the first one, the semi-final, there was a lot of speculation about the game.
"But lifting the trophy [with Barcelona] was the most important, it was the first time I was able to touch this trophy."
Toure was speaking to Nissan, the official automotive sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, as part of his role as the car manufacturer’s global ambassador.
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