Former Porto star Paulo Futre has said he was “disgusted” by claims that Chelsea’s players celebrated drawing the Portuguese club in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Chelsea were paired with Porto in last Friday’s draw, which saw them avoid tournament favourites Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
Thomas Tuchel’s side defeated Atletico Madrid in the last-16 while Porto pulled off a shock victory over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus, but remain underdogs in the competition and have not progressed further than the quarter-finals since winning the Champions League in 2004.
Paulo Futre, who won the tournament with Porto in 1987, accused Chelsea of disrespecting their upcoming opponents, who they host in the quarter-final first leg on 7 April.
“Chelsea players celebrated when they heard that they had drawn Porto,” said Futre, who made the claim on Portuguese TV. “How do I know? It’s in the English press and I called later to confirm.
“FC Porto players have to run like never before in these two games. Do you know why? They [Chelsea] think they have already won the tie. They celebrated!
“When I spoke to the source I was disgusted, and I would give anything to play against Chelsea. FC Porto players now have to die on the pitch, [because] they [Chelsea] think they are already in the semi-finals. They celebrated when they saw they got FC Porto.”
Porto trail Sporting Lisbon by 10 points in the Primeira Liga but Sergio Conceicao’s side have reached the last eight of the Champions League for the first time since 2019, where they lost to Premier League side Liverpool 6-1 on aggregate.