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Former Arsenal captain William Gallas has recently revealed that his former teammate Philippe Senderos suffered panic attacks before playing football matches.
The former Arsenal defender, who had also played for Chelsea, has claimed that his Swiss counterpart suffered intense spells of panic in the dressing room.
One of the reasons, Gallas revealed, is former Chelsea man Didier Drogba.
The two defenders were centre-back partners for Arsenal when Drogba was at his peak, creating havoc in the final third against the Gunners.
In that campaign, Arsenal suffered at the hands of Chelsea and their Ivorian talisman who scored 13 goals in 15 games against the Gunners. Drogba also famously scored a brace to end Arsenal’s 2007-08 title challenge.
On such occasions, Gallas revealed that the defensive duo could not thwart the Chelsea man's attacking efforts, so much so that Philippe Senderos was frightened of coming up against him.
Speaking to RMC in an interview, Gallas said, "I knew Philippe Senderos, before a match he would need to speak a lot, you could see that he was sweating, that he did not feel good."
"Especially against certain players. I saw him against Chelsea, against Didier Drogba, where he would genuinely panic, like he was going through his match before playing it."
"And unfortunately, when you saw him on the pitch, he lost his playing abilities, he didn't play well. But against his own team-mates, he played better."
Fans have since reacted to the news on Twitter:
Senderos made over 100 appearances since his arrival at the Emirates in 2003. During his seven years at Arsenal, the defender, now 33, won an FA Cup and a Community Shield.
He was loaned out to AC Milan and Everton before playing for clubs like Fulham, Valencia, Aston Villa, Grasshopper and the Rangers. The Swiss international won 57 caps for his country.
The former Arsenal defender currently plays for MLS side Houston Dynamo.
