Arsenal vs Manchester United: Petr Cech reveals why he will be distracted during crunch match

Exclusive interview: Look closely at the Emirates on Sunday and you will likely spot a nervous Cech checking his phone for updates on a very different match

Keep a close eye on Petr Cech when Arsenal host Manchester United this weekend. Because, if you look closely enough, you will likely spot the veteran goalkeeper nervously twitching on the substitutes’ bench, perhaps with one glove discarded so that he can tap away on his mobile phone. And while Sunday’s match could well make or break Arsenal’s top four ambitions this season, Cech will have something else on his mind.

The stakes could hardly be bigger. Win – and Arsenal re-enter the hallowed Champions League places with no matches against the Premier League’s big six remaining. Lose – and they fall four points behind Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s resurgent side with time fast running out. But it is not the only crunch match to be played on Sunday.

160 miles away at Cardiff's Viola Arena ice hockey rink, the Guildford Flames host the Belfast Giants in the final of the Elite League’s Challenge Cup competition. And Cech, who regularly trains with the Flames and had hoped to be in attendance, will be following all of the action remotely.

“After the Flames beat Nottingham Panthers in the semi-final, I was planning to go to Cardiff and to be there in this historic moment for the club and for the team,” he admits. “But as we’ve got a crucial game with Manchester United, I can’t go.

“At the very least, I’ll be on the phone trying to stay updated with the game as much as I can and hoping the Flames can go and do it. It would be an amazing story if Guildford won it, it would be absolutely brilliant.”

The Arsenal goalkeeper is no stranger to the ice himself. The young Cech’s goalkeeping skills were first honed on the ice rink rather than the football pitch, his childhood heroes not Lev Yashin, Gordon Banks and Dino Zoff, but Czechoslovakian hockey icons such as Jiří Šejba and two-time Stanley Cup champion Dominik Hašek.

Cech even made an appearance during former international ice hockey player Martin Havlat’s recent testimonial match, keeping out numerous low shots with the kind of quick reaction saves that have become his stock-in-trade in the Premier League.

Back in England, there were some raised eyebrows that Arsenal had allowed one of their first-team players to participate in such a match, despite the potential injury risk. But Cech travelled back home to play in the testimonial with his club’s blessing, and tells The Independent that he often returns to the ice to build on his fitness and sharpen his goalkeeping skills.

“I first started following the Flames when they were in the EPL and I first went to a game with a friend where they played Manchester Phoenix in a game where they were both top of the table,” he explains.

“We got chatting to Milos Milechernik, who was a player at the time and now assistant coach and he asked me to be in a photo with the team. He invited me to any training session or any game and let him know and from there, I starting to follow them as a fan.

“I’ve skated with the boys when I can to keep myself fit to improve my reflexes and that’s something I enjoy a lot as well whenever I get the chance.”

Petr Cech is a huge ice hockey fan (Arsenal FC via Getty)

Knowing the Flames players well, Cech will naturally be supporting them in spirit this weekend, with their cup final starting at 4pm, just half an hour before Arsenal kick-off against United.

Cech is no stranger to finals himself. Since moving to the Premier League from Rennes, first with Chelsea and now with Arsenal, he has won no fewer than 13 major honours, including the Champions League with the Blues in 2011/12.

So what words of advice does he have for the Flames on the biggest day in their history?

The Arsenal keeper will be keeping a close eye on his phone (Arsenal FC via Getty)

“I think you can tell by the reaction of everybody that the excitement is there about the final and everyone has been talking about it since the semi-final,” he says. “It makes you realise how big an occasion it actually is for the fans and for the club.

“There is a lot of pressure on everyone in the final and I believe the team who controls their emotions better and play the right way has the best chance to go and win it.”