Barcelona's Hansi Flick full of praise for 'fantastic' young Chelsea squad | OneFootball

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has praised the "fantastic" Chelsea side and their young squad ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash.

The Blues will face arguably one of their toughest challenges this season as they host Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.

Barcelona and Chelsea are 11th and 12th, respectively, in the Champions League table, so the winners of this match will be closer to an automatic qualification to the knock-out phase.

Flick, in particular, is aware of the quality that Chelsea have on their team.

"It is one of the best teams in the world, its evolution is fantastic, its players, coach..." the German said about Chelsea in his press conference on Monday.

"It's fantastic to see them play. It's a young team.

"For us, it must be a good game, and we must compete. We have the confidence, and we will fight tomorrow."

The former Germany boss also argued that tactically, both teams share some ideas.

IMAGO / Revierfoto

"We are a similar team to Chelsea, they want the ball and press high," he explained.

""We always adapt to the opponent. We do whatever is necessary against the rival, see what kind of opportunities we have.

"But it's always different."

Chelsea and Barcelona currently sit second in their respective domestic leagues, so it is inevitable that they have to keep upcoming league matches the weekend in mind when making team decisions.

That said, unlike Chelsea, who will face first-placed Arsenal in the Premier League, Barcelona will have an easier fixture against 14th-placed Alaves in La Liga.

In terms of squads, both are without their key players in this game. Chelsea will have to make plans without Cole Palmer, and while the Catalan side are without Pedri.