Mateo Kovacic slams Pepe for making "strange" claims over Porto draw ahead of Champions League clash

Chelsea are set to face Porto in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday. The Portuguese side surprisingly knocked Juventus out of the European competition and were drawn to face the Blues in the quarter-finals. Rumours have stated in March that Thomas Tuchel’s squad wildly celebrated as Porto were named as their opponents back on March 19. Porto's defender Pepe added further fuel to the fire as he weighed in on Chelsea’s apparent reaction in the build-up to Wednesday’s much-anticipated first leg at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. "It was public that Chelsea players celebrated the draw. But they also know that it will be a difficult game," the ex-Real Madrid centre-back told TNT Sports. "They know that we are a humble, hard-working, supportive team. In the spirit of our fans and what the coach demands of us as players, the work must always be there. "You can miss a pass, a ball control, a goal, but the work and the desire to win must always be present and that’s what we will try to demonstrate in the game in Seville." On Tuesday in the pre-match press conference Mateo Kovacic responded to Pepe's claims. He said: "No, [and that's] strange to hear that from Pepe because I played with him for three years. So I don’t know what he means or if he actually said it. But of course not. Me, I didn’t celebrate because when I played before with Real Madrid I know that in these stages there are no lucky opponents or bad opponents. This is a tough draw. "Porto is an amazing team, which we saw against Juventus and they knocked out them so it is a big opponent out. They showed a great character, a great team spirit and we need to show that as well tomorrow. And we need to try our best to go through them, but it will not be easy." Source- Metro Join us on Telegram!/ Follow us on Twitter!

Chelsea confirm 23-man squad for the Champions League clash against Porto