Gary Lineker has claimed that Chelsea may be “dark horses” to win the Champions League this season, after the group stages were wrapped up on Wednesday night.
The Blues topped their group ahead of second-placed Sevilla to make them one of the seeded teams for the last-16 draw, which takes place on Monday in Switzerland.
Frank Lampard’s side know they will face either Atletico Madrid, Borussia Monchengladbach, Porto, Atalanta, Lazio, Barcelona or Leipzig in the knockout rounds in a two-legged tie.
The seeded clubs alongside Chelsea in the competition and perhaps the biggest threats are Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain.
Lineker has suggested that perhaps Chelsea are a team that can go under the radar to try win Europe’s elite club competition this campaign.
“Fifth favourite [with bookmakers to win the Champions League], Chelsea. Now obviously they are a team that’s growing, that Frank Lampard is putting together. But they are playing some good stuff you know, could be a dark horse,” Lineker told BT Sport 2 (10:25pm, 9 December).
Chelsea famously won the Champions League against Bayern Munich back in 2012, which was a game that current manager Lampard played in.
There is no doubt that the team are heading in the right direction under Lampard as his new-look team comes together and domestically they are third in the Premier League table just two points off the top.
The Blues can forget about the Champions League until it rolls around in February, by when everyone will know a lot more about the team and how far they have developed.
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