Ibrahimovic: Chelsea are 'super-favourites' for quarter-final
José Mourinho has brought Chelsea to Parc des Princes before, though as he glanced down the probable Paris Saint-Germain team Thiago Silva, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Marco Verratti scribbled by the Uefa interpreter at his side, that previous visit a decade ago must have felt like a distant memory. Rarely has Roman Abramovich's investment taken on the whiff of old money but in confronting France's nouveaux riches in the quarter-final of the Champions League, the visitors will endure what rivals have experienced back in England ever since the oligarch's whim drew him to a corner of south-west London in 2003.
If overcoming PSG had once seemed a formality, as it proved in Mourinho's first European game in charge of Chelsea back in 2004 when the home side were defeated with ease, then these days it is a daunting prospect. This is a confrontation that has enthused the French, an eagerly anticipated test of the money-flushed PSG project and a chance for Laurent Blanc's side to establish their credentials as Champions League contenders. The English club consider it a tete a tete with one of the "economic sharks", a phrase used by their manager back in August, who may or may not be quite as committed to Uefa's financial fair-play initiative.
via Chelsea | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1pFMoWx
No comments:
Post a Comment