Chelsea host Barcelona in what promises to be an epic UEFA Champions League round-of-16 clash at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday and the tie will be extra special for Blues midfielder Cesc Fabregas as he will be facing off against his former club.
A product of Barcelona’s famed La Masia Academy, Fabregas spent three trophy-laden seasons with La Blaugrana before joining Chelsea in 2014.
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“It’s a big game for everyone I think, for the whole club, and I think for English football,” Fabregas was quoted as saying by the club website.
“It’s always great to welcome these fantastic teams in European football. It’s a massive night for the players, for the club and for English football in general. Hopefully we can do well and give a good image of what we can do and give a good performance.”
Born in Catalonia, the 30-year-old Fabregas insisted that as a professional, he wouldn’t let emotion affect his game against as he added, “Of course, it’s my hometown, it’s the club I supported for all my life, but once you step on the pitch it just goes away. I did it before with Arsenal. I don’t try, it just happens naturally. You want to do well for your club and that’s it”.
Some of Fabregas’ closest friends include Barcelona superstars Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, but the central midfielder admitted he had not spoken to them in a while as he revealed, “I have big friends, friends that I played with since I was 13 years old. I speak to some of them nearly every day, even when I don’t play against them, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be about football. Probably now the contact is a bit less, probably unconsciously because of the game coming up”.
“We are old friends but when we are on the pitch they will try to beat me and I will try to beat them. For me, friendship is a fantastic thing but in football, when you play against each other, it clearly changes,” Fabregas added.
