Demba Ba Gives Chelsea the Edge against PSG

Speaking a French radio station, Chelsea striker Demba Ba has spoken highly of his sides chances against Paris St-Germain, ahead of their quarter-final Champions League match-up.

“Of course PSG’s attack is good, but we play in the Premier League.”

“When you play Manchester United, there’s Rooney and Van Persie. At City, there’s Aguero, Negredo and Silva. We also play Liverpool, who have two great strikers in Sturridge and Suarez. Teams like PSG, with an exceptional attack, we play five or six times a season. We’re a bit more used to playing this kind of game than PSG.”

“At this level of the competition, experience is very important. Whether it be the coaching or the players, we have that experience. Even if Paris are fresher, we have a very experienced team with old hands such as Eto’o and Lampard, who are used to handling this kind of game.”

Ba makes a good point. There’s no doubt that Chelsea face tough opponents with higher frequency than do PSG. The 25 point difference between 1^st and 4^th in the Ligue 1 table reflects this reality. Having said that, there’s no denying that PSG are a great side, and their Champions League form has been ominous. PSG dominated their group, with only a single slip up in their away fixture to Benfica (although the game was largely a dead rubber at this stage).

Demba Ba is surely right when he says that there is quality forwards in the Premier League, but there is none who are in quite so lethal a form as Zlatan Ibrahimovich has been in this season. The petulant and infamous Swede has banged in a staggering 40 goals in 40 games in the 2013/14 season.

The experience edge will be an important one though, and the Blues will be hoping that Samuel Eto’o has recovered from his recent hamstring injury, and is available to start up front next week.