Paris Saint-Germain has not been in top form the whole season, finding themselves at just third place in Ligue 1. And when they face Chelsea at home for the first leg of their quarterfinal, not only will they have to worry about playing their best, they'll have to do so with a major rash of injuries.

The midfield will be a daunting challenge for PSG as Yohan Cabaye, Lucas Moura, Blaise Matuidi, and Javier Pastore all are doubtful for the last-16 matchup with Chelsea at Parc des Princes.

"It's hard to accept. Given the nature of their injuries, I think they are out for a long time," said PSG manager Laurent Blanc, who will also be facing mounting pressure from PSG's Qatari ownership after they were trounced by the same Chelsea team last season.

PSG will be requiring a lot from Chelsea transferee David Luiz, who made his way to Paris in a 50 million pound deal.

"I want to qualify, like I qualified last year, but I want to qualify for PSG," the defender said.

"If I score against Chelsea, I won't celebrate out of respect, but I want to qualify for PSG."

For the Stamford Bridge squad, they come in looking like the far superior squad, making a habit of winning matches early, which allows them to conserve valuable energy.

Cesc Fabregas has been in peak form, creating the most number of chances outside of anyone named Lionel Messi.

Said Chelsea shot caller Jose Mourinho, "The Champions League is a space for surprises: in the past decade, it's been 50-50 between the favorites and outsiders to win the trophy. At the moment, for me there are 16 candidates for the title. Last season, we beat them, but we lost in Paris and again the knockout blow came only in the last few minutes."

"We were already in difficulty like this before the first game against Barcelona and we managed to pull through," Blanc was quotes saying.

Paris SG vs Chelsea Champions League Round of 16 airs today, 2:45 PM on FS1. Check out the live stream for Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea Champions here.