London: Samuel Eto’o is in a race against time to be fit for Tuesday’s crucial clash against Paris Saint-Germain following complications with a hamstring injury.
The Chelsea striker is still suffering from the problem sustained in his side’s 6-0 win over Arsenal on March 22. The hamstring strain was due to keep Eto’o on the sidelines for a maximum of two weeks but the injury has taken longer to heal than expected.
Jose Mourinho expected Eto’o to be available for Saturday’s 3-0 win over Stoke, but was forced to make do without the former Barcelona man. Chelsea’s first team were led through a light training session on Sunday but the 33-year-old did not join his teammates.
Then on Monday Eto’o trained away from the rest of the group. The Chelsea website reported that the Cameroonian walked out on to the training pitch alongside fellow strikers Fernando Torres and Demba Ba, but worked separately with assistant first team coach Rui Faria.
Mourinho hopes Eto’o will be fit enough to play in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against PSG, where Chelsea must overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit.
Mourinho said: “Will Eto’o be fit? Let’s see. Maybe he could play but to risk a player you need to have minimum conditions to take that risk.
“If you think he’s going to be out after 10 minutes of the game, you can’t take that risk. If there is a minimum of risk, then yes.
“We need to score goals. If we don’t score a minimum of two goals we are out. We know that, so if we can have everybody available who can give us a chance to score goals, then let’s do that.”
Eto’o is the club’s most prolific central striker, with 11 goals this season — all of which have come at Stamford Bridge. In comparison, Torres and Ba have 14 between them.
But Eto’o isn’t Mourinho’s only selection headache, with Ramires suspended, Nemanja Matic ineligible and John Mikel Obi out of favour. It means Chelsea are likely to start with a midfield pairing of David Luiz and Frank Lampard.
Despite the problems, Mourinho insists his side can complete an ‘almost impossible’ mission.
“Am I nervous about the match? No,” said Mourinho. “I’d have been nervous if we’d won 1-0 or 2-0 in Paris, but losing 3-1 means I am not nervous. I want to enjoy the game, I want to enjoy the fight, I want to enjoy the risk. So, no nerves.
“A big game, an almost impossible job — so let’s go.
“What’s important is that they give everything, that they leave nothing on the field. PSG as a club don’t have the experience we do.
“But the players do have it. Players from Milan, Inter and other clubs. It will be no problem for them. Will this be a special night? It could be. No... it will be special for sure.”
Lampard, who scored his 250th goal for the club in the win over Stoke, added: “The manager is very, very strong in these situations. We’ve been disappointed since the first game. We have to be positive and try to win the game but at the same time we have to keep our heads.
“With the squad of players we’ve got we can win the game by two goals for sure. But we can’t be too gung-ho.
“It’s more about being focused and getting our attitude and the pace in our game right. We’ve got the ability. We’ve got the desire.
“We have to have a confidence in ourselves and we have to go out to try and turn it around.”
