Fab night EMOTIONAL REUNION FOR CESC
CHELSEA ace Cesc Fabregas admits it will not be easy – but he will switch off all his emotions on Tuesday.
That is the day his beloved Barcelona arrive at Stamford Bridge for what is expected to be a gripping night of Champions League football.
The Spain ace was born just 20 miles north of the club he joined as a boy, before moving to Arsenal.
They have always been his first love and he got the chance to play for them before returning to London with Chelsea. He said: “It will be emotional, although it all depends on how you see it.
“It’s my home town, a club I have supported all my life. So, in a way, yes but
once you step on to the pitch that just goes away. I did it with Arsenal.
“It’s like flicking a switch. It’s not something I try, it just happens naturally. You want to do well for your club.
“It’s a big game for everyone, for the club, for English football.
“It’s always great to welcome these fantastic teams here in European competition.
“So hopefully we can do well and give a good account of what we can do and hopefully put in a good performance.
“When I was at Arsenal we did quite well the two years we played against them, especially in the second year, we nearly got them.
“But they are a top side, obviously. We BARCA BOY: Fabregas tangles with Ramos during his time at Barcelona will have be on top of our game, for 180 minutes or maybe more, you never know.
“It’s definitely an important game.” Fabregas also has painful memories of playing against them, after fracturing a leg when taking a penalty.
He said: “I was a little bit injured from the beginning of that game.
“I remember I had a clash in the game beforehand, against Birmingham but I decided to play.
“And then in kicking that penalty what happened was I basically fractured my fibula. In that case it happened at a good moment – we came from 2-0 down to 2-2 so we had another opportunity to go to the Nou Camp and do something.
“It didn’t happen unfortunately. As I said it’s my club but when you play for another club against them, you just want to win and do your best.”
The playmaker, who had three seasons at the Nou Camp before joining Chelsea, added: “I am still friends with all their players, particularly Andres Iniesta. He’s still good. For this type of player age doesn’t really matter.
“Once you have a talent, once you have the class he and many other ‘big’ players have, they can play until their late 30s.
“Physically, it’s important, obviously because the game nowadays depends a lot on how you are physically. But when you have the quality and the intelligence, it can compensate.
“This generation of players at Barcelona has been fantastic.”
Chelsea v Barcelona, Tuesday, KO 7.45pm, BT Sport