Chelsea could draw Barca or PSG in UCL Round of 16
Last night’s embarrassing 3-0 loss to AS Roma was bad enough, without the fact that Chelsea’s Premier League campaign has them languishing in fourth place, having lost to Crystal Palace and finding themselves a whole nine points short of leaders Manchester City.
And things aren’t looking so good in Europe, either, where the Blues aren’t just risking being knocked out in the group stage, but are almost certainly going to get a bad Round of 16 draw.
As the Times write (via 101greatgoals):
If the other four Premier League clubs in the competition top their groups, as is feasible, Antonio Conte’s side would have only three possible opponents in the round of 16, in which teams from the same country cannot meet.
As things stand, that trio would be Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Besiktas.
Chelsea have conceded six goals against Roma in total and would need to be at the top of their game to get the better of Barcelona and PSG in particular. It’s also clear that they need each of their strongest XI to be fit.
PSG are leading the Champions League in goals scored (17), while the Catalans are unbeaten this season, having wiped the floor with Juventus (3-0) in the Group Stages.