‘Chelsea think they’re already in the semi-finals’: Porto icon Futre slams Tuchel’s Blues for Champions League draw ‘celebrations’

Premier League side Chelsea are enjoying their most successful Champions League campaign in several seasons but Porto legend Paulo Futre says that their upcoming quarter-final opponents will be anything but a soft touch.

Chelsea, winners of the competition in 2012, avoided the European elite in last week's draw after they were pitted against Portuguese powerhouse FC Porto in a two-legged affair to determine one of four semi-finalists in this season's competition.

Chelsea were buoyed in the draw after avoiding the likes of last season's champions Bayern Munich (who eliminated Frank Lampard's charges last season) as well as cash-rich Paris Saint-Germain and record winners Real Madrid.

But if Thomas Tuchel's high-flying Londoners are of the opinion that they got the easiest draw of the eight remaining teams, they are in for a shock according to the club's former striker Futre. 

"Chelsea players celebrated when they heard that they had drawn Porto," Futre told CMTV. 

"How did I know? It’s in the English press and I called later to confirm.

"FC Porto players have to run like never before in these two games. Do you know why? Because Chelsea think they have already won the tie. They celebrated!

"When I spoke to the source I was disgusted and I would give anything to play against Chelsea."

Friday's draw was greeted with glee from some sections of Chelsea supporters online. One fan directed a tweet at the Portuguese team to say that, "you ain't even going to get a goal in this" but another was more cautious, warning that Porto defeated Juventus in the last round despite having a man sent off.

The Portuguese side advanced to the last-eight of the competition after a surprising two-leg win against Juventus in the round of 16, while Chelsea eased past La Liga pacesetters Atletico Madrid by an aggregate score of 3-0. 

Tuchel, who now hasn't lost a home league game since November 2019, has taken to his new job in West London with relative ease, maintaining an unbeaten start since succeeding Lampard in the Stamford Bridge hot-seat in late January. 

The German has significant Champions League pedigree, having guided former club Paris Saint-Germain to last season's final where they were ultimately bested by Bayern Munich. 

Futre, though, who played three seasons with Porto in the 1980s before moving on to the likes of Atletico Madrid and West Ham United, is of the opinion that Chelsea's reaction to the draw (or at least his own perception of it) might give the Portuguese giants the motivation they need to advance to the semi-finals.

"FC Porto players now have to give their all on the pitch, because Chelsea think they are already in the semi-finals. They celebrated in the morning when they saw they got FC Porto," he said.

"Porto can get through, but they have to sweat blood."

Porto will host Chelsea in the first-leg of the knockout tie on April 7 with the return leg set for Stamford Bridge six days later.