Cesc Fabregas has won the World Cup and two European Championships with Spain, but even he’s proclaimed that the experience of coming up against Liverpool at Anfield made him ‘feel complete as a player’.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder, who’s now an assistant coach at Como in Serie B, was speaking on the Planet Premier League podcast for BBC 5 Live Sport when he recounted his experiences of playing at the Reds’ iconic stadium, something he did 13 times in his career (Transfermarkt).
The 36-year-old said: “The atmosphere is unbelievable. It’s one of those games that you just look up to because it makes you feel complete as a player. It’s like there’s nothing better that you can do than playing at Anfield against Liverpool, especially when they’re at their peak.
“I’ve experienced a bit of everything in there. I’ve won comfortably, I’ve lost 4-0 [Ed: It was actually 4-1 in March 2007] once. In the Champions League one day we made a great comeback and then all of a sudden, from being in the semi-final of the Champions League, two or three minutes later you are out.
“There’s been a bit of everything in my time. The last 15 years there, I loved every bit. I cannot say you always love it when you lose, but the experiences I’ve had in there, the lows and the highs, have been very good for me to learn for the future.”
Some away fans may liken Anfield to a library in a lazy chant lacking any originality, and there’ll always be social media naysayers who put forward the agenda that the atmosphere at Liverpool’s home is a myth.
However, we might just give more credence to a player in Fabregas who’s won literally the biggest prize in world football and represented the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona in his career.
L4 has been particularly rocking in recent weeks, including Manchester City’s visit last Sunday, and the aura will only increase along with the volume now that the stadium can accommodate 61,000 fans.
You can view Fabregas’ comments below, via @5liveSport on X (formerly Twitter):
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