Čech becomes latest member of 100 club
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
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Petr Čech has made his 100th UEFA Champions League appearance in Chelsea FC's second leg against Galatasaray AŞ, the 19th player to bring up that landmark.
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The band of players who have made 100 appearances in the UEFA Champions League has welcomed its newest member, Petr Čech reaching the mark in the second leg of Chelsea FC's round of 16 tie against Galatasaray AŞ.
The 31-year-old goalkeeper had his competition debut on 18 September 2001 as his AC Sparta Praha side drew 0-0 at then holders FC Bayern München in the first group stage – one of 12 outings Čech made in the 2001/02 edition. The majority of the Czech international's games have come for Chelsea, for whom he first featured in Europe in September 2004 – he went on to figure in the 2008 final defeat by Manchester United FC before finally lifting the trophy four years later as Chelsea overcame Bayern in the Munich final.
Čech, who is the second player to achieve a century of UEFA Champions League matches this season after Paris Saint-Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimović, is therefore the most recent name on an illustrious list of footballers with 100 games (group stage to final).
The collection includes his Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole (103 matches) and the club's former striker Andriy Shevchenko (100). They all trail Raúl González, the ex-Real Madrid CF and FC Schalke 04 forward who has made more UEFA Champions League appearances than anyone else: 142. Raúl was also the first to attain this particular milestone, in Madrid's 1-0 home defeat by Arsenal FC on 21 February 2006.
Second behind Raul was his then Madrid colleague Roberto Carlos, away to Olympique Lyonnais on 13 September 2006. Yet another member of that Merengues squad, David Beckham, became the third constituent of the 100 club the next month, with Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn joining them in December 2006 and AC Milan great Paolo Maldini arriving in February 2007.
UEFA Champions League appearances (group stage to final)
142 Raúl González (Real Madrid CF, FC Schalke 04)
139 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United FC)
139 Xavi Hernández (FC Barcelona)
134 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid CF)
125 Clarence Seedorf (AFC Ajax, Real Madrid CF, AC Milan)
124 Paul Scholes (Manchester United FC)
120 Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid CF, Fenerbahçe SK)
115 Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona)
112 Thierry Henry (AS Monaco FC, Arsenal FC, FC Barcelona)
109 Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)
109 Gary Neville (Manchester United FC)
107 David Beckham (Manchester United FC, Real Madrid CF, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain)
106 Víctor Valdés (FC Barcelona)
103 Oliver Kahn (FC Bayern München)
103 Luís Figo (FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, FC Internazionale Milano)
103 Ashley Cole (Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC)
102 Zlatan Ibrahimović (AFC Ajax, Juventus, FC Internazionale Milano, FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain)
100 Andriy Shevchenko (FC Dynamo Kyiv, AC Milan, Chelsea FC)
100 Petr Čech (AC Sparta Praha, Chelsea FC)
99 Alessandro Nesta (SS Lazio, AC Milan)
99 Frank Lampard (Chelsea FC)
99 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United FC, Real Madrid CF)
98 Andrea Pirlo (FC Internazionale Milano, AC Milan, Juventus)
98 Edwin van der Sar (AFC Ajax, Juventus, Manchester United FC)
97 Guti (Real Madrid CF)
97 Javier Zanetti (FC Internazionale Milano)
96 Claude Makelele (FC Nantes, Real Madrid CF, Chelsea FC)