Rematch of a rematch: Chelsea league form won't be a factor against familiar opponents PSG

Chelsea have been draw against a well-known opponent in the Champions League Round of 16, as we are once again set to meet Paris Saint-Germain on February 16th away and on March 9th at home next year. Chelsea Club Secretary and board member David Barnard was one of our representatives at the draw; he thinks last year's elimination by 10-man PSG will provide extra motivation.

"It's a knockout game and it depends on the form of those teams over the two legs so I don't think you can take league form into account. You saw the quality of our players in the [group stage] win over Porto last week."

"This is a team that we know very well because we played them at this stage last season and we went out on the away goals rule. The year before we beat them in the quarter-finals. We are used to playing PSG. I think revenge is a bit strong in the circumstances but the players will be motivated by that loss last year."

-David Barnard; source: BT Sport via FourFourTwo

While results in the league haven't matched our fortunes in Europe just yet,  a win against Leicester today would see the team standing still just 11 points behind the top four. There are a lot of matches to be played from here to February; hopefully by the time the PSG matches come around, Chelsea fans will be talking about harassing the top of the table rather than calculating the chances of avoiding a relegation battle.