Letang relishing renewal of PSG-Chelsea rivalry

Paris Saint-Germain deputy sporting director Olivier Letang expects another tightly contested affair when they clash with Chelsea in the Champions League for a third successive season.

The Premier League side edged through at the quarter-final stage in 2014 but PSG gained revenge with a dramatic away goals triumph of their own last term.

That tie came in the round of 16 and Monday’s draw for the first knockout stage this time around threw up the same pairing.

PSG and Chelsea have experienced hugely contrasting fortunes domestically this season, with Laurent Blanc’s team 17 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 while Jose Mourinho’s men lie perilously one point above the Premier League relegation zone with their title defence in tatters.

But Letang is not banking on Chelsea’s malaise lasting until the first leg in Paris on February 16.

“A good draw? We don’t know if it is good until we play the games,” he told beIN Sport.

“We will play against a team that is strong and who won the Champions League in 2012, the Europa League in 2013.

“Each time the matches have been very balanced in the last two years. 

“As our president said last night, the goal is to go very far in this competition. We will play against a big club, a great team, a great coach. We have two and a half months to prepare. “

“We are two teams who know each other very well. It will be both exciting and difficult, but again, the objective is to go far in this competition.”