Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini is ready to put his close friendship with Cesc Fabregas on hold for 90 minutes to help beat Premier League leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Fabregas, now 27, came of age at Arsenal, having arrived as a raw teenager from Barcelona, before returning to his boyhood club for 30 million pounds in August The Gunners, though, passed up on the opportunity to sign him back earlier in the summer, with the Spain midfielder instead joining Chelsea ahead of the World Cup.
Flamini -- who rejoined Arsenal during August having left for AC Milan in -- was a teammate of Fabregas for several seasons, including the Champions League final defeat to Barcelona in Paris. The pair are now living nearby each other again in north London, but that will not stop year-old Flamini giving his all to limit the impact of his neighbour when the whistle blows on Sunday afternoon.
It is a special game for me to play against him," said Flamini. We live next to each other. He is certainly going to be one of the [Chelsea] players to be careful about on Sunday. Flamini added: "When we were together here, we had a great partnership on the pitch. He was more offensive and I was more defensive, working hard for him. Gunners manager Arsene Wenger believes the pair's friendship will make Flamini even more determined to turn in an strong midfield display.
They were always together, so there is that kind of pride that comes in when two friends play against each other, that will make him keen to stop him," Wenger said. Wenger insists there should be no hard feelings between Fabregas and the club, despite not deciding to renew their partnership.
He decided to leave. He told reporters: "I told my players 20 times that Julian Draxler likes to come inside on his right foot and Sidney Sam wants to come inside on his left foot but we did not do that and that was a mistake we made," he said.
The other key mistake Chelsea made was down to Fabregas. He was fortunate Croatian referee Ivan Bebek allowed play to continue after he appeared to foul Max Meyer at the start of the move that led to his goal, which came when he fired past goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann with a lofted angled drive.
JUSTICE DONE But then justice appeared to be done when he lost the ball at the start of the move that led to Schalke's equaliser, allowing Draxler to cut inside before moving the ball on to Huntelaar to equalise with a superb shot from the edge of the penalty area. Chelsea could have been well clear by then had their finishing been as sharp as usual. After Fabregas opened the scoring he skied a shot over the bar from 12 meters in the 37th minute while Didier Drogba, making his first start since his return to Stamford Bridge missed two good chances in the second half.
Three minutes after coming on Remy's sizzling shot was headed off the line by defender Roman Neustadter. Didier Drogba is not crying because of that miss. The late introduction of Diego Costa, who had scored seven goals in his first four games, could not break the deadlock, although Mourinho has a greater worry for his new striker.
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At the weekend Iniesta extended an incredible run of 52 league games without having been on the losing side for Barcelona. This team are not used to defeats. But not losing will not be enough tonight. This is game number 50 in the Champions League as a coach for Guardiola. All things being equal it ought to end with him celebrating reaching his fourth semi-final in four years.
But right there is Barcelona's potential problem. All things are not equal. Allegri's immediate reaction to the first leg was: "There are three possible outcomes now, and two of them suit Milan.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: The Swedish striker will be eager to prove himself against his former club. That result would see the Italians go through tonight. If Robinho fails to deliver as he did in the first leg, Pato will give Massimiliano Allegri options from the bench. Messi has played seven Champions League games against them and he has scored just one goal — though it was against Milan at San Siro, it was from the spot. Milan are also the only side in the last 10 games to have prevented him scoring.
Tonight the Swede can finally get the better of Messi. Three times they have shut the opposition out at home without scoring themselves and three times they have progressed. They also play the holders knowing no side has been able to retain the European Cup in its present format. April 03 AM. Facebook Twitter Email. Ronaldo makes young fan's day at the Aviva.
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