Laurent Blanc hopeful PSG can overcome ‘complicated’ schedule to beat Chelsea

And Miles admitted drawing Barcelona was not what Arsenal fans and his own family would have wanted.

Two of the biggest matchups in this round will definitely be Mourinho’s Chelsea against the revitalized PSG, but also the battle between the current German and Italian champions, with Bayern Munich and Juventus up for a memorable fight and knowing that only one of them will to go through…

For Arsene Wenger, it will be the resumption of a battle against a team that agonisingly beat the Gunners in the 2006 Champions League Final and eliminated them from the competition for two consecutive seasons in 2010 and 2011.

Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva says that Chelsea not having a winter break puts them at a disadvantage for their last-16 tie in the Champions League.

Roma versus Real Madrid and Juventus, last year’s beaten finalists, against Bayern Munich are two of the standout matches in the draw.

City seemingly have the easiest tie of the three English sides but no fans will get to seem them play in Kiev in the first leg on February 24.

The eight winners of the previous group stage round will prepare to face off with the eight second place finishers, who will get to host the first of the two-legged affair.

But it is the game between the pacesetters in Spain and Arsenal which most catches the eye, however.

“Football fans will enjoy themselves, we’re two sides that play similar styles with a similar understanding of the game”, he said.

Despite having qualified last time around, PSG have defeated Chelsea only once in the 6 games they have played in the Champions League, a 3-1 win at home in 2013/14.

Paris St Germain coach Laurent Blanc hopes a “complicated” looking start to 2016 will not hinder their efforts to once again edge past Chelsea in the Champions League. “We are ambitious, we have 2½ months to prepare”, Olivier Létang, the PSG sports director, said.

The Gunners, who memorably reached the knockout stages with victory at Olympiacos last week, were handed arguably the toughest task when they were paired with the holders in the draw for the next round.

Second legs to be played March 8/9 and 15/16. Arsenal are not favorites here, but we don’t consider ourselves outright favorites.

Like I have already said, we need to be able to beat everyone and go as far as possible in this competition.

“We hoped for better luck in the draw, but we’re confident we can put in two good performances”, said the former Juve star. Chelsea won in the quarterfinals in 2014 but PSG advanced from the round of 16 last season.