Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas happy with unavailability of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gerard-c14664 Pique
Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has expressed his contentment over the absence of Barcelona’s both first choice defenders, Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League knockout round fixture at Nou Camp on Tuesday.
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol, who has not featured since January 2011, has been declared unfit for the upcoming clash against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 at Nou Camp. The 32-year-old defender was also not part of the Barcelona squad in the first leg which the Catalans lost
by 2-1 at Emirates.
Gerard Pique was the Catalans’ defensive leader in the previous leg against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. However, the 24-year-old defender was shown a late yellow card for his mistimed tackle on Fabregas. It was Pique’s fourth booking of the Champions League
in the current 2010-11 season and as a result, the former Manchester United player was ruled out of the tie against Arsenal.
Arsenal came from behind to mark their first-ever win over Barcelona in six attempts at Emirates. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629 scored the first goal of the match from outside the box in the 29th minute. However, the Gunners bounced back in an extraordinary manner
when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Andrei-Arshavin-c5771 scored the second goal to give Gunners’ a one goal advantage ahead of their trip to Nou Camp.
Cesc Fabregas hailed Arsenal’s performance against Barcelona in the first leg and urged his teammates to finish the job by putting in a strong performance in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011.
He said, “All that hard work and effort [in the first leg] means nothing, absolutely nothing, if we don't finish the job off. Tonight we will need to be at our best again. We need to keep our heads because Barcelona have the ability to cause us so many problems.
It will be down to us to make sure we do our utmost and, most of all, keep believing.”
Cesc Fabregas was not part of the Arsenal team which endured a devastating defeat at Nou Camp when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 scored four times to end Gunners’ Champions League campaign in the previous season.
It is for the first time in Fabregas’ career that he will play at the huge stadium of Barcelona, Nou Camp. The Spaniard expressed his excitement over playing at the Barcelona home and wants to give a memorable performance.
“I've never played in the Nou Camp before and this will be one of the most exciting nights of my career. To finally have the chance to take to the pitch at this mythical stadium is something I cannot fully describe. The feeling is enormous and incredibly
exciting,” said the Arsenal skipper.
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