Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti wary of Chelsea reaction

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti has warned his team of the dangers posed by Chelsea ahead of their Champions League last-16 first leg in Paris on Tuesday night.

While PSG are 24 points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table, Chelsea are struggling in 12th place in the Premier League.

PSG are seen as among the favourites to win the European Cup this season, but Verratti has claimed that "Chelsea will want to save their season", which makes the Blues dangerous opposition.

"Chelsea will want to save their season. Chelsea have great players but there is not a favourite team. We've been expecting this fixture for a long time. Tomorrow's match will be fundamental. Even though it will be played over two matches, tomorrow's will be very important," Verratti told his club's official website.

"We gained a lot of confidence from our recent results, so we're preparing for this match with a positive momentum. It's obviously very difficult to win the Champions League but most of us have been playing together for two or three seasons now, so we know each other well, and the same goes for the manager.

"So we are ambitious, but we're focused on tomorrow's match, not thinking ahead to playing semi-finals or something else."

Verratti recently signed a new long-term contract with the French champions, which will run until 2020.