
Paris
St Germain manager Laurent Blanc has urged his team to ignore Diego Costa's
'provocation' when the two sides clash in their Champions League
quarter-final second leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The controversial Spain striker has been involved in a number of
high-profile incidents this season - one of which saw him banned for three
games for a stamp on Liverpool utility man Emre Can in the Capital One Cup
semi-final.
Former Manchester United defender Blanc, whose side came back from a goal
down to claim a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Paris, is hoping his
centre-backs can avoid becoming embroiled in confrontations with Costa.
Blanc told a press conference: "We know that Diego Costa is a very good
player and he's someone who's changed clubs. He's changed mentalities.
"He's very suited to the English game because he's someone who likes going
in for the challenge and he's someone who likes contact.
"He's someone who provokes opposition players - that's a part of his game. I
think he needs that and I think he thrives off that.
"The most important thing is not to get caught up in the way he plays. He
really needs that to bring out the best in his performances.
"I watched the game against Tottenham, the League Cup final, and right from
the first move he was looking to do that and so tomorrow night the
centre-backs who are playing around need to make sure they're effective in
stopping him.
"He's very good physically and technically. He's someone who scores goals.
We need to stay calm and not get caught up in his game. We're away from home
too so we need to be as effective as possible in stopping him.
"It's up to us to try to take some risks, but not lose our heads and take
unnecessary risks.
"Paris St Germain need to stand up and be counted. We also need to stay in
the game. That's the difficulty. Yes, we need to attack, yes, we need to
create chances, but we also need to stay solid.
"Chelsea have a slight advantage, because they were able to score an away
goal. It's up to us to try to do what Chelsea did in Paris.
"One of Chelsea's main threats is the fact they're very good on the counter
attack, so I don't think we should go gung ho. We have to attack and we need
to score a goal, regardless of whether Chelsea get one or not.
"I hope we do better than Chelsea did in the first leg. Chelsea created only
one chance and they scored from that. I hope we create more than one
chance."