Cesc: “I signed for Barça to face challenges like the one against Chelsea

The player explained that the matches that Barça will play this week against Chelsea and Madrid “are the ones I was expecting to play and enjoy” when he signed for FC Barcelona.

The Catalan believes that “Chelsea come into the match on the best form they’ve had all season,” but he warned that “we have been very consistent this season and we’ve overcome all types of obstacles”.



Cesc Fàbregas has a dream and it’s to “win the Champions League, it’s what excites me the most.” The midfielder is very close to turning this dream into a reality, but in order to do it his team must eliminate Chelsea, an opponent that he knows very well from his time at Arsenal. The player, who arrived to FC Barcelona this summer, recognised that “I came here to improve and to have challenges like the ones that are waiting for us, Chelsea and Madrid. These are the types of games that I was expecting to play and enjoy.” Along these lines, the Catalan added that lifting the Champions League trophy is “a great dream and I hope to realise it as an Azulgrana.”

Cesc, who admitted that he fervently follows the Premier League, believes that Chelsea “come into the match on the best form they’ve had all season.” He noted the changes introduced by Roberto Di Matteo after Villas-Boas’ departure. “He’s made Chelsea return to the style that won them titles and made them great. They play on the counterattack and they all defend in the area,” he said. Cesc recalled his time in England when he faced Chelsea in the Premier League: “we dominated but with just one counterattack, Drogba scores. It’s almost always the same story. They are very strong on defence and they aren’t forgiving when they have the ball. They are ‘killers’ up top, we need to be very aware.”

When asked if Chelsea will be out for revenge after Iniesta’s goal in the Champions League tie in 2009, the midfielder said that “it’s a very recent thing for the players and the fans, they don’t forget easily. This will be extra motivation for them.”

Cesc knows that his team will face a very strong Chelsea tomorrow night, but “we’ve been very consistent this season and we’ve overcome all types of obstacles. It’s not about being on form, it’s about winning and taking Barça to the final in Munich. We’re capable of doing it.”

Where were you when Iniesta scored?

Cesc Fàbregas talked about Andrés Iniesta’s last-minute goal at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal, the team he played for at the time, had been eliminated the day before the Chelsea-Barça match by Manchester United. Cesc, who was with his family, recalls: “I was at home with my younger cousin. We thought Barça were eliminated and we were about to turn on the Playstation, but the goal changed everything. We were very happy. It was a disaster for me when we were eliminated, but my family was happy when they returned [to Barcelona].” (via FCBarcelona.com)