It’s fair to say the last few months have left footballers with a lot of time to reflect.
Cesc Fabregas has been one of the players looking back at their illustrious careers.
Speaking on the BBC’s Match of the Day Top 10 podcast, the former Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona man was asked to name some of the people who shaped their professional journeys.
And Fabregas explained why he loved to hate playing against a certain Liverpool great: “If I have to say one (best player I played against) – and (one who) I really enjoyed playing against – I would say Steven Gerrard.”
Fabregas has been embroiled in several rivalries with Gerrard over the years, including some high scoring games with Arsenal.
Both midfielders took part in the 2007 League Cup semi-final when Gerrard got a goal but Julio Baptista scored four in a 6-3 win for Arsenal, as well as their 4-4 draw in 2009 when Andrey Arshavin got all the Gunners goals.
The Monaco veteran admitted about Gerrard: “He was physically the most difficult opponent to handle. He was the box-to-box player, he could be on his right or left, shooting from the outside of his boot. He was a machine.”
Fabregas also had to name the best player he lined up with and – perhaps unsurprisingly for the born and bred Barca boy – he opted for their all-time top goal scorer Lionel Messi.
“It is obviously Lionel Messi. I played with him since I was 13. Definitely his talent is incomparable to anything I have seen in my life," he explained.
“Apart from the talent, for me he is such a competitor. I could not compare him to anyone. For me he is the best ever,” he said.
“He always wants to win. Even now in training if he loses a game of five versus five he will hate it.”
