This Tuesday at 9pm (CET) Paris Saint-Germain will face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie (PSG won the first leg 5-2). At a press conference, Chelsea striker João Pedro (25 years-old) spoke about the upcoming match and their Parisian opponent.
Pedro: “It was a complicated week for us”
“It was a complicated week for us with these two defeats (against PSG and Newcastle), but we know our strengths. In the Club World Cup, we beat PSG (3-0). We believe in the Super Cup.”
In a match like this, this statement is far from excessive: Chelsea would already be defeated if they approached this encounter with their heads down. João Pedro is therefore embracing what a competitor at this level must embody: the memory of past triumphs and the will to force a scenario that many consider hopeless.
Recalling the 3-0 thrashing of PSG in the Club World Cup final obviously doesn’t erase the 5-2 defeat in the first leg, but it helps maintain a collective belief that is essential before a high-stakes return leg in Europe. For Paris, the message deserves to be taken seriously: the Blues aren’t coming to limit the damage. And for the spectacle, this attacking approach is almost excellent news.
The real significance of this break is that it likely foreshadows an intense start to the match. Chelsea has no choice but to attack, and Paris Saint-Germain knows that an opponent forced to commit forward can also leave very valuable gaps.
