Chelsea have made it to the Champions League quarter-finals once again and on Friday morning will find out who they must face to go even further. The draw leaves plenty of anticipation with it possible to face all seven other teams that could mean trips as short as to Liverpool or across the continent.
The Blues will find out their route to the final with the semi-final draw also being made during the same ceremony. Many will be hoping for the easiest route possible while others might hope for the most exciting away days. Thomas Tuchel just wants to make sure that nobody wants to play Chelsea.
"I want us to be the team nobody wants to play," said the German coach, "This is the role we see ourselves in this round of eight. It's a big step to do it again, again, and again. We fight for the top four places in the toughest league maybe in the world right now and we fight in the last eight again [in the Champions League].
READ MORE: Thomas Tuchel breaks Zinedine Zidane record as he shares magic moment with Chelsea faithful
"So this brings out the best in us and we want to be the team nobody wants to play against. So let's see what happens." Nevertheless we take a look at the best and worst case scenarios below:
Best case scenario
First of all it must be said there are no easy routes through the Champions League and those remaining are the eight best left in the competition. Many will cite Villarreal and Benfica as their preferred options for the quarter-final but the Blues have already seen the quality of the Yellow Submarine in the UEFA Super Cup and Unai Emery is a formidable foe in European knockout football.
It's always nice to take on a team you've not played recently and a return to Portugal in early April could be a nice trip. The Lisbon side boasts former Premier League names including Jan Vertonghen, Adel Taraabt and Nicolas Otamendi.
If the Blues can claim the second-leg as their home fixture, it would also be ideal in the hope that a takeover can be complete in time to allow supporters into Stamford Bridge, following the sanctions the EU have placed on Roman Abramovich impacting a possible attendance.
Having defeated Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in last season's competition, the Blues will be confident of repeating the feat, so a visit to the Spanish capital wouldn't go amiss. Perhaps the former would be favoured as they still have plenty to focus on in La Liga to secure their Champions League place for next season.
For the final, while it is always nice to take on a new team, it would be good to see Liverpool on the complete opposite side of the draw to win over a team that prides themselves on European performance and to seek some redemption for the Carabao Cup final.
Worst case scenario
The worst scenario is firmly placed around Manchester City, Liverpool and Bayern Munich. A first leg at home without supporters allowed would be far from ideal, and a trip to Manchester would see the club with plenty to prove with two comfortable wins for City in the Premier League this season.
However, the additional travel in a busy fixture list may just paint a trip to take on Julian Nagelsmann's side as the most difficult. Though Chelsea fear nobody the Blues have lost their last three matches against the German champions and were outclassed when Frank Lampard was in the hotseat. Under Tuchel, Chelsea are a different animal in Europe and would remain up for the fight however.
A trip to City for the semi-final would be a tough test to follow, with Tuchel still trying to find the best ploy this term. Then the final? There's no bad scenario in a Champions League final draw.
