1. Will history repeat itself in Paris?
CHELSEA TRAVEL TO the French capital to take on domestic champions Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes for the second time in as many seasons.
10 months ago, PSG earned a 3-1 first leg victory over the Londoners before Andre Schurrle and Demba Ba scored to send Jose Mourinho’s side into the semi-finals.
Brazilian David Luiz lined out for Chelsea in both games last season but has since made a £50 million move to PSG and will be tasked with keeping compatriot Diego Costa, who already has 18 goals in all competitions, quiet.
“He’s a good striker and he has started scoring goals with confidence,” Luiz said of the Spanish international this week. “He is an amazing player.
“We need to be strong, to have an amazing first leg because we need to decide it there. “They understand the philosophy of Mourinho more, and it’s easier for him to pass on the message in the second year. They are stronger this year.”
PSG have tweeting things like this in the build-up to the game:
2. Bayern return to form ahead of trip to Lviv
After a shock 4-1 defeat to Wolfsburg followed by the 1-1 draw with Schalke, Bayern Munich are back to winning ways and destroyed Hamburg 8-0 on Saturday — with Arjen Robben scoring twice.
The 2013 champions are away to Ukraine where they will meet Shakhtar Donetsk some 600 miles from their Donbass Arena, which was hit by shellings last year in the war-torn country.
Shakhtar, currently second in the Ukrainian Premier League, haven’t played a competitive game since the start of December due to their winter break but manager Mircea Lucescu has called upon this players to become “heroes”.
“We will be heroes if we beat Bayern and qualify for the next stage,” said the long-serving head coach, who has been in charge since 2004. “Our last competitive game was 10 weeks ago and also you know about the conditions we have been working in during this season.”
3. Schalke out for revenge against holders
Current European champions Real Madrid will be in a confident mood heading to Germany for tomorrow’s game with the memory of their 6-1 demolition of Schalke at the same stage still fresh in their minds. Their last-16 tie ended with a 9-2 aggregate score last season as the Spaniards went to to claim La Decima under Carlo Ancelotti.
It’s a clash of two Italians who had spells at Chelsea as Schalke, fourth in the Bundesliga table, are these days managed by Roberto Di Matteo.
“It won’t be easy,” Ancelotti insists, despite his team being huge favourites to progress. said. “Schalke are enjoying success in the Bundesliga. They are well organised, they drew in Munich and are strong at the back.
“With their new manager they have become extremely solid in defence. We have injuries so this will be a tough challenge, but our aim is to qualify to the next round.”
4. Sousa faces Portuguese opposition
Basel coach Paulo Sousa almost signed for Porto during his days as a player, but will be doing all he can to knock the Portuguese outfit out of the Champions League tomorrow night.
Having started out in his homeland with Benfica, Sousa’s illustrious playing career saw him win this competition on two occasions with Juventus and Borussia Dortmund, and the 44-year-old remains one of only three men to have won back-to-back finals with different clubs
Basel progressed as runners-up from a tough group that also contained Real Madrid, Liverpool and Ludogorets Razgrad, while Porto were comfortable in topping Group H but coach Julen Lopetegui knows his players must be at their best.
“Porto is a team that deserves its qualification for the knockout stages following a group in which they beat Liverpool,” he told Uefa.com. “This team gave Real Madrid a hard time in Switzerland.”
