Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has spoken in his pre-match press conference that Chelsea’s International Champions Cup match against Paris Saint-Germain will be more than just a pre-season game.
PSG have had the better of Chelsea in recent years
The two capital clubs have met each other in the knockout stages of the Champions League in the last two seasons with Laurent Blanc’s side having the upper hand from the last two games, going through to the last eight stage of Europe’s elite competition courtesy of away goals.
Mourinho was keeping tight lipped about his opponents and what side he will play on Saturday saying: “I don’t speak about Paris.”
The Portuguese coach went onto say that it’s “not for me” to talk about the French club’s: “players, squad, ambition or team.”
Chelsea suffer opening ICC defeat
Mourinho will be desperate to improve to on their opening match of the ICC tournament when they were humbled to a 4-2 defeat from MLS side New York Red Bulls. That defeat ended a streak of three wins on the bounce which carried on from their final day win over Sunderland and their post-season victories over Sydney FC and Thailand All-stars.
However Mourinho is expected a vast improvement saying that he is expecting a “bit more adaptation to match intensity.” And he also expects that his players feel a “bit better” than they did.
PSG carried on from where they left last season with their French Cup win over Auxerre having managed three wins out of three so far in their pre-season campaign, managing wins over Fiorentina, Benfica and Austrian third division side Wiener Sportklub.
Despite his eagerness to not speak about Blanc’s side he did give praise saying that they are “very good players” and it was a “very good opportunity” to have a training match against a strong league winning side.
The 53-year-old also said that he would “prefer” to play the Ligue 1 champions rather than a “weak” team.
Chelsea will take on PSG on Saturday July 25 at the Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, Carolina with kick-off at 22:50PM.