J. Błaszczykowski talked about his joy when he retrieved a Champions League medal from the trash bin.

2024-11-22 00:16 © imago sportfotodienst

Second place in prestigious tournaments such as the World Cup, Champions League, and European Championship is not necessarily a bad thing. Footballers who lose the final often find joy in having participated after some time.

In the case of legendary Borussia striker Jakub Błaszczykowski, that joy manifested itself ten years after losing the Champions League final.

The versatile Polish player told the German media: "When we lost the 2013 Champions League final, I threw my medal into the trash. My wife retrieved that medal and kept it, but she didn’t tell me."

"Two years ago, I looked at my trophy shelf and asked, 'Where is my medal?'. She replied, 'After 10 years, you finally asked me about that. Now I can give it back to you.' At that moment, I was happy.”

In the 2013 final, Borussia Dortmund lost 1:2 to Bayern Munich.