CECH DREAMS OF GLORIOUS GOODBYE

EUROPA LEAGUE

PETR CECH is dreaming of ending his career by lifting the Europa League trophy with Arsenal, with the draw offering the chance of meeting his former club Chelsea in the final in Baku.

There could be an end-of-season derby in Azerbaijan’s oil-rich capital, with the two London clubs kept apart for the quarters and semi-finals.

Arsenal face a serious test in the next stage against Napoli, while Chelsea will be quietly satisfied by drawing Slavia Prague, the leaders of the Czech league who stunned five-time winners Sevilla on Thursday to reach the last eight.

‘My dream goes on,’ said Cech after Arsenal recovered from 3-1 down following the first leg to beat Rennes, another of his former clubs, 3-0 at the Emirates.

‘My dream is to retire with a trophy in my hands. There’s a long way to go but with performances like that we can compete.

‘As soon as the game started, you could see the way the team played and fought together.’

Cech will be 37 in May, nine days before the Baku final, and will call time on a glittering career at the end of the campaign.

He has won every major honour available in his 11 years as a Chelsea player, including the Europa League in 2013, and joined Arsenal two years later.

Bernd Leno is preferred to Cech by manager Unai Emery in the Premier League, but he is playing regularly in the cup competitions.

If Arsenal beat Napoli they will face Valencia or Villarreal in the last four, while Chelsea would meet Eintracht Frankfurt or Benfica, who were their opponents in the 2013 final.