Chelsea will travel to Paris on Wednesday night for the first leg against the reigning European champions. Previously, the London team just ended a series of disappointing matches in the Premier League with an impressive 4-1 victory at Aston Villa's stadium.
In that match, Pedro scored a hat-trick, continuing his explosive streak since the beginning of the year. The Brazilian striker has scored 11 goals in the last 12 matches, becoming an important spearhead in Chelsea's attack.
Speaking after the FA Cup victory against Wrexham, Rosenior praised his student: "Joao is playing extremely well. I think everyone knows when he receives the ball and rushes into the opponent's defense that something good is about to happen.
The Chelsea coach admitted that he once wanted Pedro to rest, to save energy for the away trip to Paris: "He is in that position... I want to manage his playing time because he will play a very important role for us in Paris on Wednesday. He did a very good job of helping us pass this round.
In the press conference before the match against PSG, the English coach even rated Pedro at a very high level. "I think Joao is now in the group of best strikers. He is a world-class striker.
Honestly, I will not exchange Joao for anyone at this time, because he is showing all the qualities that I want to see in a number 9 striker”.
On the other side, former PSG player Eric Rabesandratana also gave an optimistic assessment for Chelsea. He believes that the French team is not in good condition: "What PSG lacks is defensive spirit. They are having difficulty physically and if they do not reach their best form in that aspect, it will cause a domino effect affecting all other aspects.
Chelsea possesses all the qualities to cause difficulties for Paris Saint-Germain. This will definitely be a difficult match.
The upcoming match is also a rematch noteworthy, because the last time the two teams met was. Chelsea defeated PSG 3-0 in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 final. The winner of this match will meet Liverpool or Galatasaray in the Champions League quarter-finals.
