Jack Wilshere admitted in an interview with 'Daily Mail' that he will never forget when he was an Arsenal plauer and he had to face Barcelona in a Champions League last 16 clash in 2011. It has been 10 years since then, but the now Bournemouth footballer remembers what it was like standing alongside Messi in the tunnel.
All players like playing against the best. That is the one of the nicest things in football.
Wilshere looked back and remembered the day he had to face Lionel Messi. It was in the Champions League in 2011 and he was playing for Arsenal.
"When the draw came out, we were written off. and you're in the tunnel standing next to Lionel Messi. I don't think we touched the ball for 20 minutes! You're thinking: 'This is going to be a long night," he told the 'Daily Mail'.
But the midfielder, despite those thoughts, managed to perform. "I had a great game. Even now that I'm at Bournemouth I think about moments like that. I remember when I said alongside Nasri and he said: 'You've taken your game to another level now. You need to stay at this level.' That game ended 2-1 to the Gunners, but they were knocked out after losing 3-1 at the Camp Nou.
Lastly, he said he regretted not looking after himself enough. "I had conversations with the physios at Arsenal. They said that I was playing a lot and I keep on telling them that I only wanted to be on the pitch. I was living a dream. The team were fighting for the Premier League, the Champions League... Nobody was going to tell me that I needed to rest. And I regret that. I should have listened to them and learnt about my body," he said.