11 Years Ago Today, Cesc Fabregas Scored Arsenal Penalty Against Barcelona With A Broken Leg

Former Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas admitted he "didn't feel any pain" when he scored a penalty against Barcelona in the 2010 Champions League quarter-finals.

The Gunners hosted the Spanish side at the Emirates for the first leg and trailed thanks to a brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Theo Walcott pulled back an equaliser in the 69th minute before Fabregas was brought down in a challenge from Barcelona legend Carles Puyol.

Fabregas, who came through Barcelona's famed La Masia academy, stepped up to take the ensuing penalty.

However, the 33-year-old Spanish midfielder had suffered a broken leg from the challenge, despite beating Victor Valdes from the spot-kick in the 85th minute.

Fabregas revealed that he was "in agony" the moment he ran over to collect the ball to return it to the centre-spot.

The Monaco star told The Sun in 2010: "My leg is broken -- and I feel broken, too.

"[...] When Carles Puyol fouled me to concede the penalty, all I could think about was to grab the ball, put it on the penalty spot and hit it as hard as I could.

"The [adrenaline] must have been flowing through me so strongly because I didn't feel any pain as I smashed the ball past Victor Valdes. But as soon as I ran to collect the ball to take it back to the centre-spot, I was in agony.

"I had been dreaming of playing for Arsenal at the Nou Camp -- it's all part of the magic of us being drawn against Barcelona. I've never disguised how special the club is to me and I desperately wanted to be there and give a performance fit for such a wonderful stadium."

Fabregas added: "Some people think I may have even broken the leg against Birmingham a week earlier -- and, to be honest, I just don't know.

"Yes, it's exactly the same spot but I didn't go into the game against Barcelona thinking, 'My leg's broken.'"

Arsenal secured a 2-2 draw at the Emirates to keep their Champions League hopes alive at the time ahead of the second leg at the Camp Nou.

Arsene Wenger's men took a shock lead in the opening 20 minutes at the Camp Nou thanks to Nicklas Bendtner.

PA

PA

However, Lionel Messi delivered a masterclass performance as he scored an incredible four times to seal a 4-1 win at the Camp Nou.

Fabregas, who scored 19 times and registered 19 assists in 36 appearances for Arsenal in the 2009-10 season, left the Gunners in 2011 to return to boyhood club Barcelona.

Topics: Football, Barcelona, UEFA, Cesc Fabregas, Premier League, England, Arsenal, Champions League, Spain, La Liga

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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