Chelsea star Mateo Kovacic has made a rather surprising claim about the Bundesliga in the build up to the Blues' Champions League clash against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
The Blues are heading into the game against the German champions in mixed form following the winter break, with a 2-0 defeat against Manchester United followed by the 2-1 victory against Tottenham at the weekend.
Kovacic earned plaudits for his role in the win against Jose Mourinho's side at the weekend, and has admitted that the clash against Bayern Munich will be tough - and says that the German side have a bit of an advantage over the Blues, because the Premier League is tougher than the Bundesliga.
"[Lewandowski is a] great player, but not just him," Kovacic told reporters. "[Bayern are] a great squad with great players it will be tough. We like this big game, I hope we enjoy the game.
"I don't know [what the key will be to beating Bayern]. We will analyse it this evening. The coach will show us their strengths and where we can hurt them.
"Their league is not as tough as the Premier League so [they] will be more rested than us. We'll prepare to hurt them a lot.
"We had a bad result against United and came closer so we have to wake up and do a good game against Tottenham.
"We did a fantastic job but now we must move on, play the same way and keep winning. We can hurt a lot of teams."
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Kovacic was also asked about Chelsea's young players and how they may be preparing for the game - which for some will be the biggest of their careers.
"We speak almost every day," he added. "[The young players] are now used to it after many big games in the Premier League.
"It was a big game for us. Tomorrow is just another great game. We need to just enjoy it. It's beautiful to play in. Tomorrow we can show again like we did against Tottenham.
"They just need to enjoy it. It's easy to play such big games. It's nice and you just have to enjoy it. They are at a great club.
"[Being an underdog] is not a bad thing, but I think we are similar teams - not much difference. We can be a big team. Not so much experience but we know how to play big games. We'll show that tomorrow."
