Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc insists his side will not “sit back and defend” their 3-1 lead in their second-leg Champions League quarterfinal tie in London on Tuesday night.
“We have the score from the first leg, and nothing else,” said the French boss ahead of the game.
“We have managed to score in every single Champions League match so far this season – I think that’s a more interesting statistic. We know it’s not going to be an easy game for us, but we haven’t come here to sit back and defend.”
The PSG manager is expecting a highly-charged opening period of the game as Chelsea look to recuperate their two-goal deficit.
“Chelsea will have to come out looking for goals to make up the two-goal deficit from the first leg,” said Blanc.
“We haven’t come here to sit back and let them play, so it will be the key to the match because Chelsea will also be looking to control the possession, with a very intense opening 20 minutes.”
French midfielder Blaise Matuidi expects a difficult encounter at Stamford Bridge.
“Chelsea have a lot of quality and very rarely lose at home,” said the 26-year-old. “Like in the first leg, they will look to press us high up the pitch. We need to play the ball out well and make the most of our chances.”
The Ligue 1 side will be without star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was injured in the first leg last week, yet his team mate is confident the club can do the business without the Swede.
“The squad has a lot of experienced players and we want to show how good we are out on the pitch,” he said.
“Zlatan’s goals have been one of the highlights of this Champions League and we need to do everything to qualify so that he too can play in the semi-finals. Our squad has a number of great players, such as Edi Cavani, ready to make history.” (kickoffnigeria)