Chelsea of England striker, Tammy Abraham has declared that he and his colleagues are ready to take on any side that comes their way in the UEFA Champions League knock-out draw, which is billed to hold on Monday, saying they are not scared to face any of the competition’s big teams, megasportsarena.com reports.
After scaling the group stage with a come-from-behind surge, following their opening day slump at home against Valencia of Spain, Abraham admitted he was thrilled to see The Blues make it through with a 2-1 win against visiting Lille Metropole of France on Tuesday.
Abraham got one of The Blues’ goals in that encounter at Stamford Bridge, which makes him admit he is equally delighted with his personal contributions to the club’s elevation, but admits they will all have to play better together as a team to go all the way to the trophy next June.
Chelsea lost their first group game 1-0 at home to Valencia, leaving them with a tough battle to reach the knockout stages, and 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture last month left The Blues seeking victory over Lille to guarantee progression to the last 16.
To Lampard’s delight, Abraham and captain of the London side, Cesar Azpilicueta hit goals to seal the ticket, while last term’s losing semi-finalists, Ajax Amsterdam of Holland were dumped out after suffering a shock 1-0 loss at home to Valencia.
Abraham capped an impressive five-man move to open scoring, leaving the Chelsea academy graduate delighted by his side’s ability with the ball, while also underlining the strength of the team’s achievement in reaching the next round, and the Nigerian-born striker admitted Lampard has added a level of fluidity to their attacking play that will give opponents cause for concern.
The 22-year-old England striker was delighted to notch his 13th Chelsea goal in all competitions so far this season, as he struck a back heel home against Lille and helped secure The Blues’ surge from Group H, in the wake of which he says Frank Lampard’s developing side will not fear any of the other teams in the knockout stage of Europe’s elite clubs’ soccer competition.
Abraham said: “This is exciting, very exciting – for us, we’re never ones to back down from a challenge. We want to play against the best teams in the world and play in the best stadiums in the world, so for us it is exciting times. No fear.
“We’re ready for anyone. I would love it if it is playing at the Nou Camp or somewhere I’ve never played before. It’s a massive achievement for us to be through to the last 16, and it means the world to me, it’s a dream come true to have watched the Champions League as a young kid growing up and now to be playing in it myself.
“That wasn’t even our best performance, but that goal just goes to show the class we have in our team and we have to do more of it. It’s always nice to have players who can play in different positions and can fill different roles for the team. From our first game we realised how big it is; but now it’s also about knuckling down and focusing on the Premier League until the New Year.”
