David Luiz has warned his Paris Saint-Germain team-mates that his former club Chelsea are “stronger than last year” ahead of their Champions League last-16, first-leg tie at Parc des Princes on Tuesday night.
The 27-year-old Brazil international was a part of the Chelsea squad that crashed to a 3-1 defeat in the French capital last season as the two teams met at the quarter-final stage.
Luiz scored that night in Paris as Jose Mourinho’s side then edged through to the semi-finals on the away-goals rule having secured a late 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge in the second leg.
However, following a £50million switch from Chelsea to PSG in the summer, Luiz is now aiming to help Laurent Blanc’s side through to the next round of the competition at the expense of his former team-mates.
Luiz claims he will show “respect” and not celebrate if he manages to score against Chelsea, while he has warned the PSG players to expect a tougher time given that the money the Londoners received for his signature helped to fund swoops for Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis.
“They had three players join the club with amazing quality, like Fabregas and Diego. For me they are stronger than last year,” he said.
Chelsea, who can be backed at 1.44 to advance to the quarter-finals, are 2.80 to win their first leg in Paris on Tuesday, while PSG are 2.74 and the draw is 3.05.
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