David Luiz has built a curious record when Chelsea have stood in his path, and the defender\u2019s history with the Blues framed his comments ahead of another Champions League meeting. Two years at Paris Saint-Germain split his spells at Chelsea, and those years produced successive European duels that still carry weight.<\/p>\n
It was Luiz\u2019s goal at the Bridge which knocked Chelsea out in 2015, and he then featured across two rounds of Champions League knockout ties that are recorded in the details that follow: PSG (H) 1\u20131 draw; PSG (A) 2\u20132 draw (PSG win on away goals); PSG (H) 2\u20131 win; PSG (A) 2\u20131 win (4\u20132 aggregate win). Across seven clashes with Chelsea, Luiz lost only once.<\/p>\n
The 38-year-old was sent off for Arsenal on his most recent trip to west London, though the Gunners still conspired to wangle their way to a 2\u20132 draw. His last match against the Blues came at an empty Wembley Stadium for the 2020 FA Cup final, where Luiz again finished on the winning side.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always had to do my job, you know?\u201d Luiz replied with a broad smile when this record of ruin was put to him ahead of another capital clash. \u201cMy family has to eat, I have to pay my bills, and when you are working for something, you have to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now at Pafos, Luiz will be called on to lead and to fight once more as the relative minnows maintain hopes of qualification for the knockout playoffs. The former Chelsea favourite remained reflective about the return to European nights and the personal resonance of facing familiar opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a gift from God to be back here again,\u201d Luiz told assembled media this week. \u201cI had the opportunity to be back in Europe again, and then God was great with me again, put Pafos in the Champions League, and now we are here playing against Chelsea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have seen some familiar faces, and this kind of connection is what makes this place special.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
David Luiz returns to face Chelsea in the Champions League, recalling past wins and setbacks aged 38<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190],"tags":[1033,1393,1047],"class_list":["post-6118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","tag-brazilian-football","tag-centre-back","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}