“It took him a long time to score past me,” Petr Cech proudly recounts how Lionel Messi struggled to score against him

Cech faced Barcelona 8 times at Chelsea, conceding 10 goals, yet kept Messi from scoring.

“It took him a long time to score past me,” Petr Cech proudly recounts how Lionel Messi struggled to score against him

Lionel Messi misses his penalty against Petr Cech (Image via Bleacher Report)

Petr Cech has achieved many honors in his glorious career. The Czech goalkeeper won the Premier League four times, the FA Cup 5 times and the UEFA Champions League once. Often regarded as one of the best keepers of his generation, one of Cech’s biggest achievements was keeping Lionel Messi off the scoresheet for 10 matches. 

While Cech was at Chelsea they faced FC Barcelona 10 times, but he missed out on 2 matches due to his head injury. In the 8 games he faced against the Catalan club, he conceded 10 goals, but none of them were by Messi. 

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When Cech was the Technical Analyst at Chelsea, he spoke on the club’s Matchday Program. It was published for their Champions League fixture against Stade Rennes. In the program, he spoke about how he ensured he didn’t concede to the Argentinian striker. 

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It took him a long time to score past me – 10 games in fact as I was an Arsenal player when he eventually did.  He missed penalties, I made saves, he hit the post, but he never scored past me at Chelsea. It was a pleasure to keep a clean sheet against him. When he had the penalty in the Nou Camp in 2012, that was a defining moment. I was thinking about what he could do, what he would do. So my strategy was to wait and wait until I could see where he was going to hit it. So when I moved the way he was going to strike the ball, he knew he had to go high to beat me - but he went too high and it struck the bar.
Cech on Messi’s struggles against him

He called Chelsea’s fixture with FC Barcelona in 2012 the defining moment between him and Messi. Chelsea had already won the home leg and when it came to their match in Camp Nou. Chelsea were a man down with Captain John Terry being sent off and in the 49th minute, Didier Drogba tripped Cesc Fabregas in the box. With a chance to get the lead, Messi missed his penalty and hit the crossbar. Fernando Torres went on to score the equalizer in the 92nd minute and Chelsea went on to win the Champions League. 

When did Petr Cech concede a goal against Lionel Messi? 

Three years after he won the Champions League with Chelsea, Petr Cech left the Blues as he lost his spot to Thibaut Courtois. He joined London rivals Arsenal to replace the outgoing Wojciech Szczesny. In his first season with the club, he won the Golden Glove and finished 2nd place in the League. 

Lionel Messi Petr Cech Luis Suarez
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez celebrate as the Argentine scored against, Petr Cech. (Image via Daily Mail)

Unfortunately, his record against Lionel Messi was finished as he conceded 3 goals in 2 matches to the Argentine. Drawing FC Barcelona in the 2015/16 Champions League Round of 16, Arsenal lost 5-1 on aggregate and were knocked out. 

Cech left the Gunners 4 years later, leaving with an FA Cup medal in 2017. His last game came against his old club, Chelsea, in the Europa League finals where he conceded 4 goals. After retiring, he joined Chelsea as a technical and performance advisor, a role he held till 2022 when Todd Boehly took over. 

Cech currently plays as a goaltender in Ice Hockey. He played for National Ice Hockey League side Guilford Phoenix, which played in the 2nd division southwest division.  He joined them in 2019 and currently is loaned out to Belfast Giants. 

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