Many pundits declared it one of his very best showings in a Chelsea shirt, and unsurprisingly UEFA, and indeed Blues fans on social media, picked him as their star man on a night when so many shone.
‘It’s an honour,’ said Kante upon receiving the trophy.
‘First I am happy we qualified for the quarter-final. To get this award is a plus, but the principal was to qualify and we played a very good match.
‘Atletico are a good team, well organised. It was about keeping possession and stopping any rapid attacks. We didn’t let them have any counter-attacks. Our success in the first leg made us think about the good situations and meant we were confident in our approach to this match.
‘We played two good matches and we deserved qualification.’
Let’