Europa League final, Chelsea vs Arsenal: Farewell Petr Cech, the boy from Plzen who made his dreams come true

The Europa League final will be the final game for one of the best goalkeepers in modern history and one of the Czech Republic's most favourite sons

As Petr Cech bids farewell on Wednesday night, football is going to lose one of the best goalkeepers of the 21st century and one of the most celebrated in the Premier League era.

The 37-year-old started this season as Unai Emery’s first choice, but a hamstring injury in a September game against Watford saw Bernd Leno take his place. He will take his place in Baku too.

He would never play in the Premier League again but 202 clean sheets in 443 games will see him remembered as one of the best keepers of the modern era.

It all feels a long way from October 1999, when a 17-year-old Cech played his first senior game for Chmel Blsany, a village side who surprisingly made it into the Czech top flight. Cech had left Viktoria Plzen fearing lack of opportunities in the first team, and debuted against Sparta Prague as a substitute.

Blsany lost 3-1, but Cech's story was underway. Less than two seasons later he was off to Sparta, where, at the age of nineteen, he managed a run of 903 minutes without conceding. A much earlier departure to England was only scuppered by work permit problems.

"Petr was seen as an amazing talent ever since his youth, and then he added huge effort and ambition with it," Jan Koller, legendary Czech striker and teammate of Cech's for eight years, tells The Independent. “He has always been a great professional and pushed himself to become one of the world’s best. Even when he was young he was already a complete goalkeeper.”

It was no surprise then when he became a cornerstone of Jose Mourinho's first Chelsea side back in 2004. Cech conceded only fifteen goals and kept 24 clean sheets during that first title-winning campaign. Early comparisons with the likes of Iker Casillas or Gianluigi Buffon were not unjust.

“Of course, he created records during his time at Chelsea,” Koller continues. “During his spell at Stamford Bridge, their defence was excellent. Petr had a big impact on that. He worked so well with his defenders, he organised them and led them so well. Without a doubt he belongs with the best in the league’s (history).”

The collision with Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt in 2006 could have derailed everything. “That injury was very unfortunate moment in his career, it looked very serious. Despite such as bad accident, he managed to get back and stay at the top. That shows what kind of personality he has” Koller says.

Penalty heroics in Munich in 2012 saw Cech finally lift the Champions League, the crowning glory on top of four league titles at the Bridge. He always planned to end his career at Chelsea "but life doesn't always turn out the way you think it will," and a move across to Arsenal beckoned.

“For me, he is a prototype professional," says journalist David Cermak, who sees Cech as a true one-off. "He has always been very studious, moreso than the others – that’s why he became so successful. It is entirely possible that a goalkeeper like him will never be born in the Czech Republic ever again.”

Cech leaves as one of English football's greats (Getty)

“The number of games he played for the national team or how many clean sheets he kept in the Premier League was remarkable but his main contribution (to Czech football) was his attitude. A boy from a block of flats in Plzen, who made his dreams come true, because he worked hard all of his life.”

Cech was one of the national team's key players, alongside stars like Pavel Nedved, Tomas Rosicky, Karel Poborsky, Vladimir Smicer and others. Koller finds it hard to pick just one special game he played with him as there were simply too many of them.

"I would highlight the Euros in Portugal (in 2004), where he put in a number of really good performances. He helped us a lot, particularly in the game against Netherlands. When it was 2-2, he saved from Ruud van Nistelrooy and that proved very important. In those key moments, he always managed to be a pillar for us.”

Even when Mourinho replaced him with Thibaut Courtois at Chelsea, Cech fought hard to win back his place. This season, he has been in a similar situation, with Emery preferring Leno. Nevertheless, Cech, ever the professional, helped Arsenal to the Europa League final.

Cech looks set to return to Chelsea as sporting director this summer, a move that would be no surprise and one that would see him transition from pitch to boardroom like Nedved, at Juve, and Rosicky at Sparta before him.

“He has always been a step ahead of the others," Cermak adds. "I am sure he has a plan not only for next season, but also for future too. Here, in Czech Republic, he would be an ideal head of the FA”.

There will be plenty of time for that, however. For now, Cech is focused on his farewell and to try and win one last trophy.