Liam Rosenior, well aware of the immense challenge awaiting his team, appeared in a news conference on the eve of Chelsea vs. PSG. To overcome their three-goal deficit, the English club will be able to count on Pedro Neto, spared by UEFA, and possibly Estevão, but not on their captain, Reece James, who is injured. Malo Gusto is uncertain, as is Filip Jorgensen.

Beaten 5-2 last Wednesday by PSG and then 1-0 by Newcastle on Saturday, Chelsea will have to achieve a real feat this Tuesday evening at Stamford Bridge to hope to qualify for the Champions League quarterfinals. Since the end of the away goals rule, no team that lost by a three-goal margin or more in the Champions League first leg has qualified in the return leg. Present at a news conference on Monday, Liam Rosenior began by providing updates on the health status of his troops, as he will be without his captain, Reece James, on Tuesday evening.

"Reece felt pain in his hamstring at the end of the match against Newcastle. We don't yet know the severity of the injury, but he will be absent from tomorrow's match," the Blues coach confirmed. "It could be serious. A hamstring injury is never a good sign. We hope to get him an MRI to find out more. Malo [Gusto] is sick today; we'll see about that tomorrow. As for Filip, he felt pain in his groin, and we're going to get him an MRI."

If the Danish goalkeeper, who was a starter last Wednesday at the Parc des Princes and then ruled out against the Magpies on Saturday, is virtually ruled out, this is not yet confirmed for the French right back, while the Brazilian winger Estevão, present this Monday at Chelsea's collective session, is back after a month's absence: "Yes, Estevão has returned to training. He will be part of the squad. We will assess tomorrow whether he can participate in the match," Liam Rosenior said on Monday.

Pedro Neto was spared by UEFA despite his push on a ball boy in the first leg: "Yes, it's great," Rosenior said happily. "He's a top-level player. He apologized for the incident that happened in Paris. There was no bad intent on his part. He just wanted the match to resume, and I think UEFA made the right decision."

Regarding the Chelsea vs. PSG match, Liam Rosenior acknowledged that the task promises to be very difficult, but he wants to believe in it: "If we analyze the match in isolation, if we look at the score, we were punished by excellent players because of our mistakes. I think it's a recurring problem for us. We were very consistent and performed well, but we were penalized by moments of inattention or loss of concentration. For us to qualify tomorrow, we need to be perfect, make no mistakes, and be impeccable in our possession game. We must not forget that PSG are European champions for a good reason, but we have also proven at times that we can compete with them and even beat them in certain matches."

For the former Strasbourg coach, the mission therefore promises to be "difficult, but not impossible." Regarding the difference in preparation between the two teams and the fact that PSG rested last weekend, Rosenior did not want to cause controversy: "Is it an advantage for them? Obviously, they benefited from more rest. It's natural. It's normal. I can't comment on the schedules of other leagues or their practices. What I can do is make sure my team is ready to give everything in this match, both in terms of intensity and quality. I hope we can turn the situation around."

Also present at the news conference on Monday, Brazilian striker João Pedro also expressed his optimism: "Tomorrow, we need to score three goals again [like in the Club World Cup final]. The group believes in it."

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