The Premier League side got the most favourable tie of the lot
Defeating Atletico Madrid in the round of 16 of the Champions League, Chelsea found themselves in the quarter-final draw of the premier tournament. And the club ended up getting the most ideal draw it could have aspired for as the team was paired alongside Porto come the quarter-final of the tournament.
Despite being outright favourites for the impending showdown slated for April, Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel and Peter Cech refused to believe so. Speaking ensuing the draw, both the club’s figures were quick to accord respect to the Portuguese side and talk about the difficulty of the contest.
Tuchel Talks About Champions League Aspirations
Speaking ahead of his side’s quarter-final affair in the FA Cup, Tuchel also opened up on getting Porto in the Champions League.
“First of all I am happy we play an international game and not against an English team, the Champions League is about that, the club’s manager said.
“We have the second leg at home which feels good because we maybe have a slight advantage to finish at home.
“Clearly, many people will now make us favourites against Porto but that will not help us. You can ask in Turin if that helps you.
“We are self-confident and that is strongly connected with our performances. So we are confident that we will face a strong opponent and face them with respect, but we are in the quarter-final and are focused on winning that.”
“Now with the pandemic there are certain other things that play a part in this Champions League. As it stands now we play Porto as normal away and home, and you can prepare for that. It’s an opponent we need to respect. They have history in the Champions League and European Cup. It’s a team we will be prepared for and ready to play against.”
He added: “We have played Porto a few times in the Champions League.
“All the games were always tight and very difficult. We expect the same. They were good in the group with Manchester City, and they managed to go and beat Juventus, another giant of European football, so we have to respect that, but we have our confidence and we know the strength of our team. Hopefully we can go through.”
