David Luiz reminisces about his time at Chelsea
Former Chelsea star David Luiz went on to reveal some secrets about his stay at the club (h/t Daily Mail). A free agent now after leaving Arsenal, the maverick Brazilian defender reminisced about his two stints with the Blues and also how he left under acrimonious circumstances.
The 34-year-old first joined Chelsea in 2011 from Benfica and stayed on for three years, helping Chelsea to a first Champions League crown in 2012. Luiz would go on to play for two more seasons before he left for PSG in 2014.
After two trophy-laden years in France with PSG, he would return sensationally to Chelsea and won the Premier League in his first season back. Luiz was one of those modern defenders that liked to play out from the back and venture forward on occasions.
The Brazilian was known for his powerful freekicks and even has a decent record of scoring goals for the side. In 248 games for Chelsea, Luiz has scored 18 goals and assisted 12. Apart from the Champions League and Premier League, Luiz also won the Europa League and Carabao Cup twice and the FA Cup once with Chelsea.
Speak from his homeland, Luiz spoke about that Champions League final in 2012. Luiz revealed that he was not exactly fit to play as he had a hamstring injury. He also spoke about a chate he had with Roman Abramovich ahead of the game
“I perhaps should not have played. But some special people encouraged me to take that step, to play even though I was not fit. They told me not to be scared. There was big pressure after that. Roman Abramovich spoke to me on the day of the game and asked, “How is your leg?”
“I told him, “It does not matter, I play with my head and my heart. He said: “Go away, I don’t want to see your face, I am so nervous!” I said to him, “Don’t worry, we will win”. But it could have gone badly wrong. Imagine if I’d been forced off after 10 minutes, or I made a mistake for a goal because I could not run? It was a big, big decision.”
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Luiz was a controversial name surely. He occasionally made some errors but he was truly one of the better defenders to play at the club. He brought something wildly different to what others had. Luiz would leave Chelsea for the second time in 2019 and joined Arsenal for two seasons.
