Captain Cesar Talks About Chelsea’s Infamous Champions League Group Stage Exit In 2013

The Blues will begin the defense of their Champions League crown on Tuesday and there are still some painful memories of the last time that happened.

Chelsea were knocked out in the group stages the season after winning their first-ever Champions League title in 2012, a memory that is still quite painful for club captain Cesar Azpilicueta.

He told chelseafc.com: “It was a very bad experience, quite painful because I came from Marseille and in my three years there we reached a quarter-final and a last 16 of the competition.

“So when I arrived at Chelsea just after winning the Champions League, it was a tough moment to be out at the group stage after being the champions of Europe.”

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“I’m the only one in the squad from that moment but I will try to help with this experience so that it doesn’t happen again because we don’t get more points this season because we are the champions.

“We start from zero, it’s a new challenge, we face tough opponents already in the group stage and we have to be ready for it because it is our objective to fight for everything. So hopefully that experience will help us going forward.”

Unlike in 2013, Chelsea are in a better place in terms of the squad at their disposal at this time. Thus, getting knocked out in the group stages seems unlikely but the Blues must ensure that complacency doesn’t creep in.