Very few are giving us much of a chance against Barcelona this Tuesday, so confidence obviously isn’t that high heading into the game. One man who probably has a little more confidence than the rest of us is Petr Cech though, as the former Chelsea shot-stopper has an amazing record against Barcelona and Lionel Messi in particular, as reported by the Mirror.
We don’t have a great track record against Barcelona, as they’ve not only knocked us out at the last 16 on several occasions, but also pipped us to the trophy in 2006 by painfully beating us in the final.
Hopefully Cech can help us go some way towards changing that, and continue his impressive run against Barcelona and Lionel Messi.
To give you a little more confidence heading into the game, check out these stats:
In six games vs the Czech international, Messi has failed to score a single goal.
In five games vs Cech, Suarez has scored just twice.
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Neymar has never played against Cech, so surprisingly has never scored against him either.
Cech has played 11 games against Messi, Suarez, and Neymar, losing just once.
We’ll need every player to perform if we want to get the win, but it all starts at the back. Defending against Barcelona is more of a team effort, but if Cech and the back four can keep Luis Enrique’s side out then we’re one step closer to the victory. Letting Barcelona score an away goal or two would be catastrophic for our progression chances, so we really need to priorities not conceding.
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We’re not known for our ability to lock up shop and park the bus, but that may be required against Barcelona at times; making sure we’re defensively solid and then counter-attacking may prove our best chance of getting a goal.
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