Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has warned his teammates not to underestimate Andres Iniesta when they come up against Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League.
The Blues will welcome Barca to Stamford Bridge for the first leg of their tie this Tuesday on what will be a particularly special occasion for Fabregas, who came through the ranks at La Masia and went on to rejoin the Catalan giants in 2011, making more than 150 senior appearances for the club.
Fabregas could come up against Iniesta in the middle of the park, and he insists that his 33-year-old compatriot still has the ability to unlock defences despite registering just one goal and two assists in 27 appearances across all competitions this season.
"He's still good; for this type of player age doesn't really matter. Once you have a talent, once you have the class that he and so many other 'big' players have, they can play until their late 30s," Fabregas told reporters.
"Physically, it's important, obviously because the game nowadays depends a lot on that. But when you have the quality, when you have the intelligence, it can sometimes compensate. We played with the Spain under-21s together. We've played together from when I was 18 years old.
"I never saw him as an 'idol' because we always played together. I saw him as a teammate. A person obviously that I admire, but in a different way from an idol I looked up to when I was young. I used to look up to [Pep] Guardiola, because he was playing in my position; I used to love Luis Figo when he was at Barcelona. These two were probably the ones I looked up to most when I was little. But this generation of Spanish players, and not only Spanish players, in Barcelona has been fantastic.
"It depends how you see it. Of course it's my home town, it's the club I supported for all my life. So in that way, yes. But once you step into the pitch, that just goes away. I did it with Arsenal. It's not something I try, it just happens naturally. You want to do well for your club and that's it."
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last seven meetings with Barcelona, winning two and drawing five.
Barney Corkhill
