Petr Cech says it will be ‘really difficult’ for Chelsea to retain the Champions League, although he was buoyed by their opening group-stage win.
The Blues won the European competition for the second time back in May, beating Premier League champions Man City 1-0 in the final.
Thomas Tuchel’s side began their defence with a win over Zenit St Petersburg on Tuesday, with Romelu Lukaku breaking down the Russian club with his first European goal for Chelsea.
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Chelsea’s form under Tuchel and the club’s impressive summer transfer window has given supporters the belief they can challenge for the Premier League this campaign and even retain the Champions League.
Real Madrid became the first team to retain the European title in the Champions League era in 2017, and Cech concedes it will be tough for Chelsea to emulate the Spanish side.
‘It is really difficult to retain the Champions League because you need an element of everything going right and you need to be lucky as well,’ the club’s technical and performance advisor told Chelsea’s official website.
‘For Real Madrid to win it three times in a row, that was absolutely exceptional and you have to really take your hat off to a team for doing that because it’s a title that is really so hard to retain.
‘When you come in as a champions, everybody has extra pressure and that adds to the complexity of the whole thing. You need everything to go right, no unlucky games or bad decisions.
‘You are playing the best teams in Europe throughout the competition and everybody has the same motivation and quality to go through.
‘That is what it makes it so unique and so difficult but we started well with a good win against a tough opponent in Zenit St Petersburg so now we keep building from here.’
