Chelsea take on Porto hoping to reach 1st CL semi final in 7 years

Lisbon/London, Apr 6 (efe-epa).- Chelsea have the opportunity to make the last four of the Champions League for the first time in seven years when they take on Porto in Wednesday’s quarter final first leg.

But they will need to regroup after their shock 5-2 defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, the Blues’ first loss since Thomas Tuchel took over in late January.

Against West Brom, a red card for Thiago Silva precipitated a defensive meltdown, as Chelsea conceded more than double the number of goals that they had let in in 15 matches.

“It’s the quarter-final of the Champions League, so you play four halves that you need to be fully focused for, self-aware of our strengths, what our attacking patterns are that we want to find after the international break and our game on Saturday,” he told a press conference on Tuesday.

Porto coach Sérgio Conceição meanwhile will be wary of Chelsea’s desire to bounce back from their Premier League defeat as his team looks to produce another upset after they eliminated Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus in the round of 16.

“I wish Chelsea had won their last match. Sometimes these situations sound the alarm and make everyone more alert,” he said.

“We are aware that we are going to have a very difficult task, but we are ready.”

The reigning Portuguese champions, who trail Benfica in their domestic league by eight points, will be hoping to repeat their glorious run to the final in 2004 when they hoisted the title under coach Jose Mourinho.

Captain Pepe, the only current Porto player who has won a European title, will be leading the team against Chelsea after a stellar performance against Juventus.

The three-time Champions League champion with Real Madrid, however, downplayed the Juventus victory by saying “it is a thing of the past” during a press conference on the eve of the game.