‘I don’t want to face him again’ – Mohamed Salah says former Chelsea star is one of his toughest opponents
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has paid a huge compliment to former Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta.
Cesar Azpilicueta spent 11 successful seasons at Stamford Bridge as a Chelsea player, but he finally left the club in the summer of this year.
It’s been great to see the 34-year-old veteran start well at Atletico Madrid. The versatile defender’s played 11 games across all competitions so far this campaign, including a couple in the Champions League.
The Spaniard popped up as a right-back, centre-back and left-back during his time in England. He was without doubt one of the Premier League’s elite defenders for a period of time, too.
Mohamed Salah, 31, is one of the greatest attackers to ever grace the Premier League. Therefore, Azpilicueta should take huge pride from the fact that Liverpool’s right-winger has singled him as his hardest opponent at left-back.
When asked who’s the toughest left-back he’s ever faced in the Premier League, Salah told Sky Sports:
“Azpilicueta was tough. I know in the end he ended playing right side but Azpilicueta was really tough.”
Salah also commented on another former Chelsea defender:
“I played with Ashley [Cole], oh my god. The way he reads the game was unbelievable… He’s very smart. He’s not the tallest. He reads the game and he’s really tough.”
We’re not sure that Azpilicueta gets the credit he deserves from neutral football fans for the career he’s enjoyed. Of course, it’s a different story if you ask a Chelsea supporter that watched him perform so consistently for over a decade.
In particular, he was phenomenal as a 1v1 defender when Jose Mourinho was in the manager’s dugout for a second time at Chelsea.
Speaking via The Times last month, Gianfranco Zola expressed his surprise that players such as Azpilicueta were allowed to leave the club before the start of this season. There’s no doubt that Mauricio Pochettino has been left with a squad that does lack big experience.
It felt like he called time on his Blues career at the right time as the speed of the league was watching up with him, though.
Salah’s comments are a great reminder of just how good Azpilicueta was as a player!