Cesc Fàbregas praises Barcelona as "the best team in the world"
The Spanish midfielder of Chelsea, Cesc Fàbregas, has praised Barcelona, which he considers "the best team in the world", today's opponent in Washington (United States) in the friendly tournament International Champions Cup (00:00 GMT).
"Playing against Barcelona is always good. I spent wonderful years there; I lived some of the most beautiful moments of my career and personal life. It will be great to play against them again", said Fàbregas, in statements collected by the British newspaper "The Guardian".
"For me, (Barcelona) is the best team in the world, especially when the front three are in form. I don't remember a trio of forwards like Messi, Suárez, and Neymar since I was born. They are a constant threat", said the Spanish international.
The team coached by the Portuguese José Mourinho, the current champion of the Premier League and the League Cup (Capital One Cup), concludes its American tour on Tuesday against the Blaugrana team, which will not be able to count on Messi or Neymar.
"We won't play against Messi or Neymar, so we're lucky. But if we want to win the Champions League this year, we must face the best", Cesc said.
"We have players like Hazard, Oscar, Diego Costa, and Willian, attacking footballers. Last year we already showed that we have a great team by winning the Premier League and the Capital One Cup, and now we want to do it again", he added.
This year, with the arrivals of Colombian Radamel Falcao García and Bosnian Asmir Begovic, who replace Didier Drogba and Petr Cech, respectively, Fàbregas is confident in being able to compete for the Champions League.
"I have always said that the Champions League was one of the few disappointments of last season. I rate the team a seven or eight out of ten, but to complete a really good season, we need to do better in the Champions League," he emphasized.
"Unfortunately, we were eliminated in the round of 16 (against PSG) on away goals, but we didn't lose the match. This season we have to do better in the Champions League," said Fàbregas.