Iniesta expects heated atmosphere in Stamford Bridge

CAIRO – 20 February 2018: Barcelona's captain, Andres Iniesta, is expecting a heated atmosphere at Chelsea’s stadium, Stamford Bridge, when both teams meet on Tuesday night at the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg.

Iniesta prevented Chelsea from reaching the 2009 UEFA Champions League finals when he scored a late goal in front of Chelsea’s fans to end the game with a 1-1 draw in the second leg, while the first leg ended with a 0-0 draw.

Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets are the only players at Barcelona’s current squad who were playing for the team in 2009.

Iniesta is used to getting a huge applaud at all the stadiums in Spain even Real Madrid’s stadium, Santiago Bernabeu, as he led Spain to win their only World Cup title in 2010 when he scored their winning goal at the finals against Netherlands.

Iniesta, 34, will meet many familiar faces in Chelsea as the English club has many Spanish players like Cesc Fabregas, Pedro Rodriguez, Alvaro Morata, Marcus Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta who played alongside Iniesta in the Spanish National Team.