JT: My kids have
Messi shirts!
JOHN TERRY fears things could get Messi with the kids when Chelsea square up to Barcelona.
For Terry’s five-year-old twins Georgie and Summer are both in love with Lionel Messi.
And they may not be too happy if their dad puts the block on the Argentine idol again.
It is just one more dilemma facing the Chelsea skipper as he prepares to take on the world’s greatest player over two legs in the Champions League semi-final on April 18 and 24.
Trying to stop the 58-goal Barcelona superstar is more than enough for Terry to worry about without the added pressure of upsetting the kids.
Terry declared: “For me, Lionel Messi is quite clearly the best player ever. It’s a pleasure to pit myself against him and when I finish my career it’s something I can look back on and know I’ve tested myself against the very best.
“He’ll still be going strong when my career is over. So when we’re watching him on TV, I can tell my kids I’ve played against him.
“The kids just love him. They both have Barcelona shirts with his name on the back and they like the fact I swapped with him after one of our previous games.
“It’s just one of those things. But I can’t complain, because Messi is a great individual player and a great person. He has everything and is a real credit to football. He’s magical to watch but can be stopped, as we’ve shown in the past.”
Terry can take heart from the knowledge the Argentine genius has never scored against him in their previous six meetings.
Another Messi shut-out, though, will mean nothing to the centre-back unless the Blues beat the reigning European champions to reach the final in Munich on May 19.
Terry added: “Obviously, it’s nice to be able to say ‘I’ve played against this team or that player’. But for me it’s all about winning.
“We have been so close to winning the Champions League so many times. Yet we still haven’t done it and that is our target.
“It always has been our aim since Roman Abramovich became the club’s owner. He’s very keen for us to win the European Cup.
“We know it’s going to be very tough against Barcelona in the semi-final. They are a great side, who can tear teams apart.
“But we haven’t lost any of our last five games against them and I’ll be happy if we can extend that run to our next two meetings.
“Our previous games against Barcelona have been some of my proudest memories as a Chelsea player."
“When they’ve come to Stamford Bridge, I feel we have shown we can take the game to them in a way that not many other teams have managed.” Chelsea are still haunted by the memory of their 2009 defeat by Pep Guardiola’s men, when Andres Iniesta’s last-minute strike sent Barca through on away goals after Chelsea had five strong penalty appeals turned down.
But Terry insists he will not be motivated by thoughts of revenge.
He declared: “That has been and gone. What has happened in the past between us doesn’t matter. It’s all about the here and now.
“We have to move on and we’re just delighted to be in this position. Two months ago, I’d have bitten your hand off to be where we are now.
“We’ve shown in the last couple of months just what we are all about as a team and as a squad.
“To come back the way we did against Napoli and then to win away to Benfica shows we are difficult to break down.
“Barcelona have proved in the past four or five years that they are one of the best teams ever. But we are going pretty well ourselves and it’s important we keep that momentum going.
“It has been a real team effort to get to where we are. The manager has rotated the squad and all the players who have come in have shown the hunger and the fight to keep their place and work for their chances.”
Even so, the former England captain is refusing to get carried away by the team’s recent revival and is not jumping on the bandwagon which suggests Chelsea will finally win the Champions League because no one expects them to this time.
He said: “We’ve been down that road before and I’m not even going to think about that."
