Friday, March 29, 2024

League form not a factor in PSG clash – Chelsea´s Barnard

Chelsea board member David Barnard does not believe domestic form will be a factor when the Premier League title-holders renew acquaintances with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

The draw for the round of 16 in Nyon on Monday pitted PSG and Chelsea against each other once more, with the Ligue 1 titleholders having prevailed in a meeting between the two at the same stage last season.

Chelsea emerged victorious against the Parisians in the quarter-finals a year earlier but Jose Mourinho’s squad are beset by domestic struggles in 2015-16.

Their tattered title defence took another wrong turn last weekend when AFC Bournemouth left Stamford Bridge with a 1-0 win and Chelsea are remarkably only a point above the relegation zone ahead of their trip to Leicester City on Monday.

“It’s a knockout game and it depends on the form of those teams over the two legs so I don’t think you can take league form into account,” Barnard told BT Sport.

“You saw the quality of our players in the [group stage] win over Porto last week.

“This is a team that we know very well because we played them at this stage last season and we went out on the away goals rule.

“The year before we beat them in the quarter-finals. We are used to playing PSG.

“I think revenge is a bit strong in the circumstances but the players will be motivated by that loss last year.”

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