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Cesc Fabregas has urged his Chelsea teammates to bring the Champions League trophy to Stamford Bridge this season and is confident that his team can beat Barcelona to it. The 26-year-old midfielder is expected to face his boyhood club for the first time since his £23 million move to Chelsea when the two teams take on each other in the International Champions Cup in Washington DC.
Fabregas acknowledged the fact that Barcelona is the best team in the world after the La Liga giants completed a treble last year, and he praised the trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar, who managed 122 goals between themselves, in an interview with Standard Sport.
He said, “I think they are the best team in the world, especially when the front three are on form. I don’t remember a front three in Messi, Suarez and Neymar as powerful and talented since I was born. Obviously, they are a threat to everybody in the Champions League again this season,” while talking to the Standard Sport.
“Barcelona have the best strikeforce in the world and against that you have to play as a unit, you have to play very well. But there are no doubts that we can compete against anyone,” he further said, while talking to the Standard Sport.
Fabregas believes Chelsea possess players to challenge for Champions League
Despite Chelsea winning the Premier League and the Capital One Cup in his debut season at the club, the Spanish international rued Champions League campaign, which came to an abrupt end when Paris Saint-Germain knocked them out in the last 16. He believes that the club have improved a lot since last season and have enough big talent to compete with Barcelona in the Champions League next season.
“If we want to win Champions League, we have to compete against the best. We will have to do well,” he said, during his discussion with Standard Sport, as quoted by The Guardian.
“I always say that the Champions League was the one disappointment from last season. I gave the team a seven or an eight out of 10 for the year, but to complete a top, top season we needed to do better in the Champions League. Unfortunately, we went out in the last 16 on away goals, we didn’t actually lose the game. But we do have to play better in the Champions League this season,” he told the Standard.
The midfielder also spoke to Standard Sport about how Chelsea can repeat their success from last season, saying, “We have players like Hazard, Oscar, Costa and Willian who play in the attacking positions and for sure we have a great team. We showed that last season by winning the League and the Capital One Cup and we want to show it again.”
