Drogba fit for Barca
Chelsea's Didier Drogba gives the thumbs up
The Cote d’Ivoire striker missed the Blues’ 0-0 draw away to Arsenal on the weekend due to a knee injury but has trained the past two days and travelled with the team to Spain on Monday.
The 34-year-old scored winner in last week’s first leg clash at Stamford Bridge, though he received praise and criticism in equal measure for his performance, with many feeling he often went down too easily under challenges in a deliberate attempt to waste time and break Barca’s rhythm.
Yet a surprise defender of Drogba’s tactics is the very man who may be charged with marking him, Gerard Pique.
The former Manchester United centre back was very diplomatic in Monday’s pre-match press conference.
Informed that former teammate Wayne Rooney had hit out at Drogba on Twitter, Pique said: "He's always on Twitter, isn't he?
"I believe in Drogba that, every time he fell down, it was because he was in pain, or he felt a kick on him.
"I don't think that, when Drogba fell down, he was trying to act or dive.
"If not, we'll start to talk about football not having fair play and being all about cheats. Football is not like that.
"We have to keep all the good things, and diving and cheating is not good."
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