Cesc Fàbregas has admitted Chelsea have lacked “a killer instinct” at times this season but is confident José Mourinho’s side will be ruthless enough in their approach to force passage beyond Paris Saint-Germain and into the Champions League quarter-finals.
Chelsea go into Wednesday’s second leg with the tie delicately balanced at 1-1 after the first game at Parc des Princes, but with the hosts having already earned silverware this term through their success in the Capital One Cup earlier this month. That was the first trophy of Mourinho’s second spell in charge, and a watershed moment for what is in effect a developing side, with Fàbregas confident that success will have had a positive effect on the squad.
“From my experience, and especially with the national team, when we unlocked mentally that fear of quarter-finals or getting on to a really big stage, that’s when we felt we could become champions,” said Fàbregas, a World Cup and European Championship winner with Spain but a player for whom the League Cup win over Spurs had provided a first success in English football in a decade following Arsenal’s FA Cup triumph in 2005. “And once we were champions we were unstoppable.
“That’s what we have to do. We have to believe we are the best, be mentally dominant and ready to cope with every situation. There will be moments against Paris Saint-Germain when they will be on top. We don’t expect it to be a walk in the park, so we have to be mentally and physically ready, stick together as a team when they are being dangerous, and go for them when we can. This is the thing: if I have to say what we’re missing a bit this season it’s that moment when, if we can kill, we have to kill. There have been moments where we’ve not done that and allowed other teams to push and be dangerous.”
That appeared to be a reference to the games against Manchester City, twice, and Manchester United earlier this season when narrow leads were surrendered and points shed as a result. “We have to be more determined, especially when we go forward,” added Fàbregas. “When we get one goal, we have to go for the second and third. That’s the only thing we can really improve. Hopefully we will have that killer instinct tomorrow and go for the game from the first second. We know PSG are a great team. That doesn’t mean they scare us. We will push to win it from the start. We won’t sit back, holding for a draw and seeing what happens. We’ll look to win it.”
