Former Chelsea defender Michael Duberry believes that John Terry and Gary Cahill "will relish" the prospect of coming up against Zlatan Ibrahimovic this evening.
The 6'3" Swede, who is regarded as one of the world's best centre-forwards, has been in positive form for Paris Saint-Germain this season, having scored 39 goals in 42 outings for club and country.
However, Duberry has insisted that Chelsea's centre-back duo would prefer to contend with the "physical challenge" of Ibrahimovic inside the Parc des Princes, rather than a more mobile striker.
"Speaking as a defender, when you play against players, you have a favourite style that you like to mark. A lot of the time, you'd much rather play against someone physical than someone with plenty of pace. I always preferred having 90 minutes against Alan Shearer than spending all game chasing Thierry Henry down the channels," he told Sports Mole
"Zlatan is big, but Terry and Cahill will like that physical challenge. Both of them might not be the quickest, although Cahill is no slouch, but their positional sense means that they don't often get caught out. As a partnership, you can tell that they love defending.
"When that Champions League music hits you, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, even for experienced players like Chelsea have got. You look across the tunnel and see some fantastic players, but that will make the likes of Terry and Cahill even more determined not to let Ibrahimovic score. They will relish playing against him."
The Blues have kept 11 clean sheets from their 18 matches in 2014.
Liam Apicella
