Chelsea will be hoping their outstanding home record will be enough to help them overturn a two-goal deficit when they play PSG in the quarterfinal, second-leg of the Champions League on Tuesday, according to AFP.
Manager Jose Mourinho has never lost a quarter-final tie in the competition, in his time with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, and is desperate not to break that run at Stamford Bridge.
Their 3-1 defeat in Paris last week, when a last-minute goal gave PSG a two-goal cushion, made life difficult for the English side, who won the Champions League in 2012.
But it is their home form – with 15 wins out of 17 in the league this season – that gives Chelsea fans most hope.
Mourinho has bemoaned a side “with no strikers” due to the lack of form of Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o this season. Torres drew a blank in the weekend win over Stoke and Mourinho is so desperate that he may be willing to risk a semi-fit Eto’o on Tuesday.
“If we don’t score a minimum of two goals, we are out, we know that,” he said. “If we can have everybody available who can give us a chance to score goals then let’s do that. So maybe I will pick him but to risk a player you need to have minimum conditions.
“If you think he’s going to be out after 10 minutes of the game you can’t take that risk. But if there is a minimum of conditions of risk, then, yes, I will pick him.”
Midfield stalwart Frank Lampard says Chelsea need to maintain their focus throughout, with any slip in concentration likely to be costly.
“The problem with Champions League football is that you can’t settle for having good periods in the game like we did the other night,” he said.
“The quality levels are so high that in little moments you can end up losing the game.
“That was the disappointing thing about Paris but we’ve got the ability and we’ve got the desire. We have to have confidence in ourselves and go and try and turn it around.”
“With the squad we’ve got and the players we’ve got we can the game by two goals, for sure, but we can’t be too gung-ho. It’s about finding the right balance on the night.
“We’ll look at it. I think that is when you trust the manager. He is very strong in these situations.”
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