Blanc: Manchester City were a lot stronger than Chelsea

The PSG boss remains optimistic that the French champions can see off their Premier League opponents in the Champions League, even if he was full of respect for Manuel Pellegrin...

Posted Thursday, April 07, 2016 by Goal.com

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc feels Manchester City were a much stronger opponent than Chelsea in the Champions League after they were held to a 2-2 draw at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.

The Ligue 1 champions saw off Chelsea with relative ease in the round of 16, but were given many more problems by City on Wednesday.

Blanc remains confident PSG can progress to the semi-finals, irrespective of their underwhelming performance in the first leg, but stressed that City should not be underestimated.

"We knew City have some great players going forward. We expected a game like this," Blanc told reporters.

"City were a lot stronger than Chelsea, whereas we were less accurate than against Chelsea.

"We should have gone a goal up, but then they scored against the run of play. And they added another after the break. It is very hard when you concede two goals in a home game. Manchester City were very efficient.

"We were average from a technical point of view. We lost possession too easily.

"But if we can put in a similar performance in the second leg and get the same amount of chances, we will score goals."