John Terry's 100th Champions League Game Underlines His Importance to Chelsea

In the week the artistry of Barcelona's Xavi has been celebrated after he broke the Champions League appearance record, John Terry has achieved a personal milestone himself.

Against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday, the Chelsea captain made his 100th appearance in the same competition, putting him in an elite group of players to have achieved such a feat.

Terry is some way off Xavi's historic 143—and at 33 years old he's unlikely to break it—yet it shouldn't be allowed to go unnoticed.

Here is a player who, like his Spanish counterpart, has risen through the ranks of his club to become a legend, captaining Chelsea and England at a time when foreign imports have impacted the English game like no other period.

There is a slight difference in the path of both players. Xavi emerged from Barca's famed La Masia academy system—one that is built to groom the next generation of talent.

It has the framework, the ethos and importantly, the method.

Chelsea haven't had that at any time in their history. They've enjoyed a golden age of youth development themselves—one need only look to the Docherty's Diamonds era in the 1960s—but they've lacked a fully integrated youth system.

More often than not, when Chelsea fans have looked to their heroes, they've been players the club has paid for.

They've never produced stars with the frequency Barcelona have.

Terry is different, he bucks the trend at Stamford Bridge, breaking the mould in the modern era to become a figure of everything football is supposed to be moving away from, especially in the Premier League.

He's the one-club man who has defied the odds to become a Chelsea great.

With Roman Abramovich's billions bank rolling Chelsea's success this past decade, the rule book tells us Terry shouldn't have remained at Stamford Bridge as long as he has.

On the surface, there has always been a better, more glamorous centre-back the club could have moved for, but Terry's talent and character has made his managers think otherwise.

He was there when it all started and is the last man standing, too.

When Abramovich bought Chelsea from Ken Bates, Terry was still an emerging talent. In his early 20s, he was being schooled by Marcel Desailly and had plenty to learn.

A year later, Jose Mourinho was building his Chelsea team around him and Terry has been the vital component ever since.

Even now, a Chelsea defence without him is a weaker one and as the club continues to build for the future, the captain's image remains very much a part of it.

Time will eventually be called on Terry's career but not now. As he racks up his Champions League ton, it's a milestone that not only outlines what he has achieved in a Chelsea shirt, but what he still offers the club.

There's plenty more in the tank where Terry is concerned.

"The club of 100 is a limited group," said Chelsea boss Mourinho after the 1-0 victory over Sporting, per Daily Mail. "Only very few people can play 100 games in the Champions League for the same club. 

"He may not have been captain in all those games, but surely in most of them. He's an historic player and will go down in the history of the club."

Indeed, he will.

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Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes