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Mourinho fills Chelsea with belief for Paris test

José Mourinho says that come kick-off his players "have to be ready, with smiles on our faces" as they seek to overturn their 3-1 first-leg loss to Paris Saint-Germain.

Mourinho fills Chelsea with belief for Paris test
Mourinho fills Chelsea with belief for Paris test ©UEFA.com

José Mourinho says it is up to his Chelsea FC players to create an atmosphere of belief at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday as the Blues seek to overturn their 3-1 quarter-final first-leg loss to Paris Saint-Germain. The English side, he says, have nothing to lose as few expect them to prevail – not that Laurent Blanc buys into that viewpoint. Although shorn of the injured Zlatan Ibrahimović, Blanc hopes his charges can seal progress by exploiting any space left by Chelsea's need to attack.

Chelsea
José Mourinho, manager

I believe and my players believe and that's the most important thing. I won two finals, so the two finals are the most important good memories I have. I lost semi-finals, and when you lose semi-finals you are nearly there and the semi-finals are the biggest disappointments. I was never knocked out in the group stage, which is good for me and good for my clubs – but I still consider the two finals the most important nights.

If Paris are knocked out tomorrow it will be a big disappointment for them; if we are knocked out then it is something that a lot of people are expecting. We have to enjoy the risk of the situation. At 9.30pm [UK time] we can be out, and we know that. But at 7.45pm we have chances to be in the semi-final. So at 7.45pm we have to be ready, with smiles on our faces, to go out and see what happens – but at 7.45pm we believe we can do it.

We need the supporters but you know that without us performing it's difficult for them to support. Normally at home we play well so I think they have hope that we can do it, and I think they understand that if they can push us a little then that push is welcome – but I think everything starts with us. If we can show that we can do it then they will come with us.

Weekend result
Saturday: Chelsea FC 3-0 Stoke City FC (Salah 32, Lampard 61, Willian 72)
Čech; Ivanović, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Lampard (Luiz 70), Matić; Schürrle (Hazard 59), Willian (Cole 78), Salah; Torres.

• Chelsea, who had lost two of their previous five fixtures in all competitions, have kept eight successive clean sheets at Stamford Bridge – and are unbreached in 732 minutes since Javier Hernández's consolation in Manchester United FC's 3-1 loss on 19 January.

Team news
Samuel Eto'o has a hamstring problem and, while Mourinho says he will not be fit on Tuesday, he does not discount using the forward at some point. Ramires is suspended.

Paris
Laurent Blanc, coach
We need to go into the game with the right spirit and the right motivation to qualify. I don't know what the probability of us going through is, but these percentages are not important – we have a match to play against a very good side and we know what went on in the first leg and we need to learn our lessons from that.

Is the match going to be like the last 30 minutes of the first half in the first leg or is it going to be a case of Paris Saint-Germain dominating the second half, or are Chelsea going to have the ball and dominate? We don't know, that's the magic of football.

In the first leg we saw that Chelsea can defend very compactly and operate with four defenders on the edge of their box. That leaves you with space down the flanks and is something that's terrific for [Ezequiel] Lavezzi because he likes to have space on the wings. He's got a lot of speed so that's something he's able to exploit and he's able to beat players and break free down there.

We caused problems for Chelsea in the first leg but it's a case of whether they play a slightly higher line in the second leg and whether they come out – if they do, that will allow space for Lavezzi and other players as well.

Weekend result
Saturday: Paris 3-0 Stade de Reims (Cavani 43, Mandi og 48 89)
Sirigu; Digne, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Van der Wiel (Camara 65); Rabiot, Cabaye, Pastore; Ménez, Cavani (Lavezzi 65), Lucas (Ongenda 72).

• Saturday's 3-0 Ligue 1 home success against Stade de Reims means Paris have won a club record 11 straight games in all competitions, conceding just four goals in the process.

Team news
Ibrahimović misses out with a hamstring injury sustained in the first leg.

Match fact
Paris have prevailed in 11 of 14 European ties in which they won the first leg at home – and have won three of the four in which that initial margin of triumph was two goals. The sole exception was against KSV Waterschei in the 1982/83 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals, when they were 2-0 victors at home but lost 3-0 in Belgium.

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