page_title: Petr Čech
section_title: 2008–09 season
hierarchical_section_title: Petr Čech / Club career / Chelsea / 2008–09 season
caption_attribution_description: petr Cech training
context_page_description: Petr Čech is a Czech former professional footballer who is a technical and performance advisor for Chelsea, and who also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Guildford Phoenix. Čech played as a goalkeeper and has been described by numerous players, pundits and managers as one of the greatest goalkeepers in European history. He is argued, alongside Peter Schmeichel, to be the greatest goalkeeper in Premier League history.
  Čech began his senior career at Chmel Blšany in 1999, where he played sporadically for two seasons prior to relocating to domestic superpower Sparta Prague in 2001. At age 19, Čech became a first team regular, and his single campaign with the club was fruitful, as he registered a league record of not conceding a goal in 903 competitive minutes. This led to his first move abroad, when he relocated to France to join Ligue 1 side Rennes for a fee of €5.5 million in 2002.
  In France, Čech starred in an under-performing team, and was the subject of a then club-record transfer for a goalkeeper when he moved to Premier League side Chelsea for a fee of £7 million in 2004.
context_section_description: Čech signed a new five-year contract in July 2008 to keep him at Chelsea until 2013. Chelsea started the 2008–09 season in good form, conceding only 7 goals in 17 games and keeping 11 clean sheets, 10 of which with Čech in goal.
  In November 2008, Chelsea beat Sunderland 5–0 at Stamford Bridge, a game which marked the 100th match Čech had played for Chelsea without conceding a goal. Chelsea had a 1–0 victory over Juventus in the Champions League on his 200th appearance for the club, and he also starred in a 1–0 away victory at Villa Park against Aston Villa, saving from Gabriel Agbonlahor and Gareth Barry. The following week, Čech helped Chelsea move up to second place in the league by saving from Paul Scharner in the first half against Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea won 2–1. Successive clean sheets by Čech in Chelsea's wins against Portsmouth and Coventry City saw his side consolidate their position in the Premier League whilst progressing into the FA Cup semi-finals. Čech also made saves from Dirk Kuyt and Xabi Alonso as Chelsea beat Liverpool 3–1 at Anfield in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
  In a crucial Premier League game in April 2009, with Chelsea comfortably leading 4–0 against Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink took off both Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard only for Bolton to score three late goals which questioned the Chelsea defence, and in particular Čech. Čech, however, responded when he saved a penalty from Mark Noble in Chelsea's 1–0 win at the Boleyn Ground against West Ham. He also kept a clean sheet in the next game against Barcelona during the Champions League semi-final first leg match. Following a 3–2 win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Čech and Chelsea finished the season with the joint-tightest defence in the Premier League along with Manchester United, having conceded just 24 goals over the course of the season. Despite conceding the fastest goal in FA Cup final history, Čech helped Chelsea's 2009 FA Cup Final triumph over Everton. Chelsea won 2–1, earning the Czech his seventh trophy at the club.
  Former Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari accused Čech, Michael Ballack and Drogba of causing his sacking, saying that they "did not accept my training methods or my demands". Scolari also said that it stemmed from a row between him and the Czech goalkeeper over the latter's alleged insistence on being given a personal coach. Čech denied the claims saying that he was "disappointed with [Scolari] because never in my life have I had a personal goalkeeping coach".
caption: Čech before Chelsea's first game of the 2008–09 season against Portsmouth
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