‘In February last year, many people said Chelsea cannot win anything and we won two titles,’ notes David Luiz, back in the squad for the visit by Wigan today after a couple of weeks out with injury.
A positive-thinking footballer by nature, the Brazilian, who made a high-profile return to action on Wednesday night as captain of his nation at Wembley, is determined to turn the remaining months of the season into something significant.
‘Mathematically we can fight for the Premier League, we have the FA Cup to play for and the Europa League is starting next week,’ he adds, speaking to the official Chelsea website, ‘and we have a great team and the players to win competitions.
‘It is difficult in the Premier League now because we have a big distance to the clubs at the top of the table but we can try and this is my dream, to one day win the Premier League, and in the other two challenges we have the opportunity to win.
‘We need the support and I think the team needs to win one or two games and then the confidence comes back.
‘I can speak personally for me and for the group – all the players every day work hard in training to win games.’
David Luiz suffered his recent injury in the closing moments of the Capital One Cup semi-final exit at Swansea so his absence coincided with suspension to Eden Hazard. The return of those two players for today’s game adds pace and energy to the squad and given David Luiz’s versatility, significantly increases the options open to Rafael Benitez.
‘It always difficult when you get injured, sometimes you can train because you are okay physically, and sometimes you cannot so you spend that time working in the swimming pool, or doing cardio exercise so you do not lose everything,’ he says.
‘But I am back now and I am happy because I can do what I love, because I love to play football and I will try to help the team with my best.
‘I felt okay in the game for Brazil. It was a great game, a difficult game against England and both teams created a lot of opportunities to score goals. It was an amazing atmosphere.’
Chelsea involvement in internationals has not yet finished for the week. On Sunday evening two of David Luiz’s team-mates compete for their continental championship. He wishes John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses success in South Africa against Burkina Faso.
‘I say good luck to my friends and I hope they win the trophy.’