Sport

Chelsea are team to beat

John Terry: says Chelsea are Europe's No1 target
Ken Dyer|Evening Standard|In Prague
14 April 2012

John Terry believes Chelsea's new elite status has made them the team everyone wants to overcome. The west London club begin their Champions League campaign in earnest tonight when, watched by billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, they meet Sparta in their opening Group G match.


"We were a massive team but now we've become the club to beat," said defender Terry today. Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri has 21 players at his disposal tonight and looks certain to make changes from the team which beat Tottenham on Saturday.

Argentine striker Hernan Crespo and former Real Madrid midfielder Claude Makelele could make their first starts and Terry said: "You have to keep improving otherwise you are out. For us, the Premiership has to be the priority and if we do well in the Champions League it will be a bonus. This match tonight though is a new experience for some of us and this is where we want to be.

"That was brought home to me in the qualifying round, when we played Zilina. We were warming up before the match and they were playing the Champions League music. Marcel Desailly came running over to me and said, 'This is what it is all about.' I agree."

Terry also believes that playing in the high-profile Champions League can only help establish him as a regular England international. "I don't know if Mr Eriksson will be watching," he said. "We know he likes us coming up against the best strikers."

Terry still recalls the shock UEFA Cup defeats against Viking Stavanger and St Gallen in the past but added: "We know the disappointments we've had in the past but now we're fully focused.

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"A draw tonight would not be a bad thing but we want to win and get off to a great start."

French international Desailly believes that people should not expect too much of the new Chelsea team.

Desailly was a member of the Chelsea side which reached the quarterfinals of the competition in 2000 and the defender said: "The players then had been together for some time. Now it is just the beginning. The quality looks better now and it is a new adventure."

Ranieri attempted to release the pressure on his players when he said: "I have big champions but Sparta are the better team. We just want to compete with them." Midfielder Geremi, who missed the win over Spurs but looks likely to be back in the team tonight, is another Chelsea player who has Champions League knowhow. "In my first year at Real Madrid I spent a lot of time in the team and we had Champions League experience," said Geremi.

"The biggest match was a semi-final against Bayern Munich where I scored a goal. Your tactical approach to the Champions League has to be different. This is our first match in the competition proper as a team, but everyone wants to play.

"I know a lot of teams in the Champions League and that is why I say we have one of the best squads in Europe. Now we have to build a team.

"With the quality of players here it should be easy. We all know how to play. Real Madrid have a big squad but ours is even bigger. We all have ambitions of winning a trophy this season and we have a squad capable of doing that."