Pires sees Barcelona as favorites against Chelsea

CAIRO – 15 December 2017: Former French International, Robert Pires, revealed on Thursday that he thinks Barcelona are favorites to defeat Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League round of 16.


“Barcelona will be the same as always. In this competition they have a lot of experience and maybe they have the advantage. Barcelona are still a big team, a great team, and with a player like Lionel Messi it's very difficult to beat them,” Pires told Marca on Thursday.


The draw put Barcelona against Chelsea at one of the toughest clashes in the Champions League. The first leg will be played in London while the second leg will be played in Barcelona.


Pires spoke about the other tough clash in the draw between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain saying, “I think it looks like a final. Madrid won the last two Champions Leagues and PSG have a very good team with very good potential to win the competition. If you consider the names and players, you can imagine it as being the final."


Before the draw, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were the best contenders for the title, and one of them must defeat the other to continue in the tournament.


He was asked about Kylian Mbappe’s decision to reject Real Madrid’s offer in the summer to join PSG. He answered, “I think Mbappe made a great decision because it was very important to him to stay in France. He's very young and needs to prove himself again. So, PSG, for me, was a great decision.”


The 18-year-old Mbappe joined PSG this summer from Monaco for €180 million. He has a great impact on the club and he formed a great partnership in the attacking line with Neymar and Edinson Cavani.