John Terry is convinced home advantage can help make the difference against Genk at Stamford Bridge tomorrow.
We have not lost a Champions League group game on home soil since Besiktas were winners in west London in October 2003, winning 18 and drawing six times since, and the captain believes good home form at this stage should be enough to take usthrough to the knockout rounds, having already beaten Bayer Leverkusen and earned a draw away at Valencia.
“The Champions League group stages will give you one really tough game nine times out of 10 because the way the seedings work, but you always come up against good opposition nowadays,’ said the 30-year-old. ‘With that in mind if you can win your home games it will serve you well.
‘There are teams on paper that you should go and beat but away from home these can be difficult places to go because of the weather or pitches, so if you can look after yourself at home,as we have done in recent years, then you should be alright.
‘Until now we’ve always done well in the group stages, we’ve never failed to go through and we tend to get ourselves in the right position early on.”
With four points from our opening two games we are certainly on the right track, already atop Group E with two meetings with fourth seeds Genk now to come.
Tickets are still available for tomorrow’s match, but Terry is confident the Blues faithful will be giving the side their full backing as we seek another important three points.
“I am sure the fans will be behind us,’ the defender said. ‘I’ve heard the game not far off being sold out and as a player it’s nice to come out to a full stadium knowing the fans are behind you, which they always are and we thank them for that, because we appreciate the support that we get.”
By Clare Smith
Twitter @chelsea4girls