Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BERND OUT TO TURN UP THE HEAT ON CECH
BERND LENO has twice done battle with Petr Cech. That was in 2011, when his former club Bayer Leverkusen took on Chelsea in the Champions League group stage. Leno was the loser at Stamford Bridge, where the Blues win 2-0, but back in Germany came out on top in a 2-1 victory for Leverkusen. Now the pair are team-mates at Arsenal following the German’s £19.3million move and are about to do battle again for a place in Unai Emery’s starting line-up. Leno, 26, said: “Petr had a big career with many, many trophies and is still a big goalkeeper and a big personality. “But I have to focus on myself and play my game, work every day, very hard, to be the first choice. “I’ll learn a lot working with him every day. He has a lot of experience and has played many games. I’ve a lot of experience too, but he has much more, so I can learn from him. “I admired him when I was growing up. My first game in the Champions League, when I was 19, was against Petr. After the game he said it was a good game for me. “It was seven years ago and now we are together at Arsenal, it’s crazy.” After a quiet game in the friendly with Atletico Madrid on Thursday, which ended 1-1, he was called into action against Paris Saint-germain two nights later as Arsenal won 5-1 . Leno added: “It’s exciting. I like the team, I like the club and I like the way we play. The way we passed it on Saturday is the way the coach wants us to play. With a goalkeeper you have one more player and it’s the way I want to play.” The high defensive line Emery insists on means Leno must be comfortable as a sweeper-keeper. He said: “When the defence is a little bit wider or higher, I need to close the space. “Of course, there are a lot of risks but the coach wants that, we close the space. I did it in Germany too, so it’s nothing new for me.” Many are tipping Leno to be first choice, but refused to give anything away. Asked if Emery had told him or Cech, 36, who would be No.1, Leno added: “No. I don’t know. “I do my best, I work every day very hard and at the end the coach has to decide.”