Petr Cech will fear Iniesta more than Messi when Arsenal face Barcelona in the Champions League
Arsenal shot-stopper Petr Cech is apparently more afraid of Iniesta than Messi, Neymar or Suarez. Britain’s infamous TV presenter and Arsenal fan Piers Morgan caught up with the 33-year-old Arsenal man during Frank Lampard and Christine Bleakley’s wedding and revealed Cech’s surprising opinion on Twitter.
Barca’s front three, collectively known by the acronym MSN have been in scintillating form this season and have rightly grabbed all the headlines. However, Iniesta still remains the club’s main orchestrator in midfield and helps the Catalan giants tick in crucial encounters, which was fully evident in their 4-0 league success over arch rivals Real Madrid.
Iniesta has previous with Cech; the Barcelona maestro scored a 93rd minute winner past the Czech when a ten-man Barcelona triumphed over Cech’s former club in the 2008/09 Champions League semifinal, a game that became infamous for the refereeing performance of Tom Henning Ovrebo.
Iniesta also scored when Chelsea last met Barcelona in the 2011/12 Champions League, with Petr Cech hoping that being in Arsenal colours this time might stem his unfortunate streak against the Spanish talisman.
Barcelona in fine form
Arsenal will lock horns with FC Barcelona in February, after Arsene Wenger’s men drew the Catalans in the Champions League round of 16. Both teams have had a solid season, with Arsenal in contention for a league title and Barcelona being crowned Club World Cup champions recently.
Luis Enrique’s men won the Club World Cup title for a record third time in the weekend and ‘MSN’ played a very influential role in the tournament. Even though Messi and Neymar didn’t play a part in the semi-final clash against Guangzhou Evergrande, Suarez single-handedly took Barcelona to the final with his hattrick.
However, the pair returned for the final against River Plate and Messi scored the opener with Suarez adding two more to confirm their victory. Iniesta’s presence in midfield was rightly felt as he acted as the supply link from midfield for the Catalans.
Even though Messi has never scored against Cech, he will be aware of the fact that Iniesta has scored twice in the competition against him and will be on guard to prevent another disheartening memory from occuring.