Chelsea legend Pat Nevin thinks that his former club need to be cautious of two AC Milan stars in particular tonight (Wednesday) as Graham Potter searches for his first UEFA Champions League win in charge.
The Blues will be looking to make it two consecutive wins in all competitions with a win over the Rossoneri. Conor Gallagher's late curling effort against former club Crystal Palace earned the Blues a hard-fought three points at Selhurst Park on Saturday, earning Potter a first win in his new job.
The Englishman has coached the Blues in just two competitive games since joining the club, but he doesn't boast a 100% record, having drawn at home to Red Bull Salzburg last month. A point in that game meant that Chelsea slipped to bottom of Group E, but their opponents are in a much better position, having taken four points from their opening two matchdays.
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Blues legend Pat Nevin isn't convinced that the game is a must-win, especially as there's still three group stage matchdays to go, but he does think that it's important to secure victory.
"It's vitally important, but it's not an absolute must win," Nevin told FreeSuperTips. "They've had a really shaky start so far in the Champions League and it's fair to say if Chelsea lose, then they're not going to win the group, but they can still qualify.
"When you look at the history of the competition, you would say you need 10 or 11 points to get through the group stage. If Chelsea loses this game, then they'll be on 1 point which obviously doesn't look good. But if they win the last three games after that, then they can still do it but it's not ideal and two of those games are away from home!
"They haven't started this campaign well at all, so it's very important that Chelsea firstly play well, do not lose the game and preferably win the game. The joy for Chelsea is that if they do win the game, then the group is absolutely wide open. Chelsea would then be as likely to win the group as anyone else in that case and they are well capable of doing it."
Milan aren't going to roll over and simply hand Chelsea three points, though. The reigning Serie A champions have a tremendous amount of firepower up front and if given the chance, they will cause Potter's backline serious problems.
Nevin believes two players in particular could cause Chelsea issues, including their former frontman, Olivier Giroud.
"AC Milan have some very good players and they've hit some form; Rafael Leao is a very good player for them," he added. "But you know what it's like in football with any team, old players come back to haunt you and Olivier Giroud is someone Chelsea will have to keep a close eye on as well.
"I can see signs of improvement already under Graham Potter and the new management, but it's the second game of nine in a month. It's possibly going to be the most important one in terms of if they win it, then they'll probably end up getting out of the group. If they lose it, then there's a good chance that they won't and that's big for Chelsea in the longer term."
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