Chelsea technical chief Petr Cech has singled out the European Super Cup victory over Villarreal as epitomising the squad’s team spirit.
He wrote for chelseafc.com: “When thinking about my own highlights, I can’t look past the obvious ones. What stands out is the Champions League final and the Super Cup. The Champions League final was really hard, but we scored and saw the game through, which was hugely satisfying. We really deserved to win the Champions League on the back of every game and every round we negotiated.
“We won the group, and then in every knockout round we were the better team. That was what was special. It felt like we were unbeatable in that competition.
“The one thing that really showed the solidarity and strength of the group was the Super Cup. With all the difficulties of not being able to have a normal pre-season, people come back at different times and really late, some players got a chance to be part of the team and show what they can do.
“The special moment was the shoot-out when we swapped the goalkeepers. That’s not an easy thing to do, but it showed the respect and solidarity of each member of the squad. Everybody matters, everybody is important, and everybody sticks together.”