Cech resigned to busy night

By Adrian Clarke

The news that Dutch international striker Roy Makaay had recovered from a thigh injury was great news for FC Bayern München as they travelled to London to take on Chelsea FC in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg - but it will not have been greeted with much enthusiasm by Stamford Bridge No1 Petr Cech.

Makaay recovered
The Czech international had been hoping for a quiet night at home against Bayern after facing FC Barcelona's fiendish Ronaldinho in his last two European games, but now he is resigned to being on his guard for all 180 minutes of the last eight tie.

Quality strikers
He told uefa.com: "If you play against Roy Makaay, Ronaldinho, Ruud van Nistelrooij, Andriy Shevchenko or Ronaldo, they don't need two seconds, they just need half a second or maybe one second to finish. Even if you defend well for 90 minutes you can just lapse for one second and there is a goal.

No defence
"There is a difference between top strikers and just ordinary strikers. The top strikers don't even need one second to score. That is the main difference. You have a lot of strikers who, if you give them two or three seconds then they will score but against them you have time to defend."

Bayern form
Despite enjoying a magnificent season under José Mourinho, the Blues will have to make do without their charismatic manager for both legs of their quarter-final while he serves a two-game touchline ban. And to make matters worse for Chelsea, the Bundesliga leaders - who comfortably dispatched reigning Premiership champions Arsenal FC in the last 16 - return to London in fine form on the back of a resounding 3-0 win at VfL Wolfsburg last weekend.

Utmost respect
Cech readily admits Chelsea have the utmost respect for Felix Magath's side. He said: "Bayern are very tough opponents. All their lines are well-balanced and that is their strength. They have consolidated their team and have a solid defence, creative midfielders and the superb Makaay up front."

Special goalkeeper
The highly-rated 22-year-old reserved special praise for his opposite number at Stamford Bridge, Oliver Kahn. In the wake of recent criticism of Kahn's performances, Cech declared: "Oliver is still a key player for Bayern and it is hard to imagine someone else in Bayern's goal. He is still irreplaceable and he proved it in both matches against Arsenal. I don't think Kahn has got worse at all. He has had some problems but that can happen to everyone. He is class."

European giants
With so much class in the Bayern squad, Cech is ready for a tough contest. "Just like our game against Barcelona, this will be a fight between two European giants," he added. "But if we are going to win the Champions League, we can't worry about who our opponents are - we have to be able to beat any team."