Chelsea: Paris Saint-Germain ask authorities to ease fixture congestion ahead of Champions League clash

Paris Saint-Germain have asked for more time to prepare for their Champions League last 16 showdown with Chelsea. The Ligue 1 champions take on the Blues for the third consecutive year in the knockout stages of the competition, but face a potentially problematic schedule ahead of first leg at Parc de Princes on Tuesday 16 February.

PSG sealed their place in the next round of the Coupe de France with an unconvincing win over Toulouse on Tuesday, with their next cup match scheduled to take place on Wednesday 10 February, six days before the meeting with Chelsea.

Laurent Blanc's side, however, have a league game in hand against Lille that must take place in between that six-day period, leaving the club with a run of 10 matches in five weeks ahead of the Champions League clash. Chelsea have just six games in that time.

The PSG boss says the club have already made a request to the French Football Federation to ease the fixture congestion, hopeful the Coupe de France match can be moved to a later date.

"The way to sort out the problem would have been to get knocked out of the two cup competitions, but we don't want that," Blanc said, ESPN reports. "We are Paris Saint-Germain, we can't think like that, but on the other hand we hope our last week [of games before the visit of Chelsea] will be rearranged.

"We hope that the federation pay attention to this request. It's going to cause some grinding of teeth but we're also fighting for France's UEFA co-efficient."

Chelsea were eliminated from the Champions League by PSG at the same stage of the competition last year.