Ahead of the Round of 16 second leg Champions League tie between Chelsea and PSG, the visiting team’s manager Laurent Blanc has described Diego Costa as “provocative”.

The tie is evenly poised after Chelsea earned a 1-1 draw in the first leg. Although the Blues have an away goal advantage, PSG know they’re more than capable of getting an away victory and knocking their opponents out.

Blanc said in the press conference that Costa like duels and knows how to provoke the opposition.

Blanc on Diego Costa: “He’s a bit provocative. We’ll have to hold our nerve and not get drawn into his games.”

— Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) March 10, 2015

PSG, despite being the crowned as the French champions, are yet to establish themselves as an European powerhouse.

Laurent Blanc: ‘We need to attack, we need to score goals, but we also need to stay solid. That’s the enigma of this tie.’ #CFC #PSG

— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) March 10, 2015

Blanc drawing reference to Chelsea added that the Blues took a lot of time to become one of Europe’s greats and they put in a lot of money behind it. Therefore, patience is required here.

We have seen in the past that players tend to react well when opposition manager says something provocative about them.

Costa has been going through a bad patch of late, having failed to score in the last five matches. Chelsea fans will be hoping Blanc’s remarks on Costa provokes him to give his best on Wednesday night.