Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has admitted that exiting the Champions League at the Last 16 stage is a major blow to the club and said that securing a place in the competition for 2017/18 will not be easy.
Winning the Champions League this season was the only realistic way that Chelsea could have secured a place in next year’s competition as they currently sit in 10th place in the Premier League table.
However, the 4-2 aggregate loss to PSG ended any hope of them winning the competition for the second time, so for the first season in over a decade, the Blues will not play Champions League football next season.
Speaking after the loss, Ivanovic told the Evening Standard that having to exit the competition was a huge blow to the club.
He said:
I will really miss playing in the Champions League a lot. All of the players dream to play in the Champions League, we live for the competition and the games. It’s going to be very disappointing to not be in it next season. But this team has the character to grow and finish in the top four next season. We can fight for the title. We can come back stronger for the Champions League.
The Serbian also spoke about how difficult it will be for the Blues to earn a spot in Europe’s premier competition next season and said that Liverpool are the perfect example of a club who have struggled to make it back into the Champions League on a consistent basis.
[Liverpool’s issues] show how competitive our league is. There are great teams and you have to concentrate all of the season to be in the top four. It’s very difficult to be at that level all season.
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