Lavezzi pleased with two-goal Paris cushion

Paris Saint-Germain forward Ezequiel Lavezzi is looking forward to visiting Stamford Bridge with "a little more peace of mind" after Javier Pastore's last-gasp strike completed a 3-1 win against Chelsea FC in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final opener.

The Argentinian forward opened the scoring for Paris with a superb early effort, calling to mind his two-goal showing as SSC Napoli beat Chelsea 3-1 in the round of 16 in 2011/12. The Blues ultimately progressed on that occasion, but Lavezzi is confident his current side are "a completely different team", even if both he and midfielder Blaise Matuidi anticipate a "very difficult" return game next Tuesday.

Ezequiel Lavezzi, Paris forward
The goal at the end was very important, and it was important for the team to win a match like that. We'll go to London for the return leg with a little more peace of mind. I don't know if we're favourites as the second game will be very difficult. We'll try to win over there to get through the tie. Chelsea are very strong, and they know how to use the ball, so it's only normal that we found things tough at times tonight.

For my goal, I just decided to hit it like that and I was lucky that the ball went in. I've been a little luckier this year than I was last year. Our players are getting to know each other more and more, and we've had more time to work together. The results have improved because of that, which is normal.

I'm not worried about Chelsea pulling off a repeat of their comeback against Napoli because this is a completely different team and we hope to through.

Blaise Matuidi, Paris midfielder
We played a good game and had a very good start. After the opening goal, our level dropped and we lost the ball a lot, and Chelsea were able to get back on level terms as a result. We needed half-time to put things right again, and we had a very good second half. We were able to play our game and that allowed us to score a second goal.

Javier's great strike at the end of the game gave us a huge boost. That's given us an even bigger advantage and a more comfortable cushion in the tie. We're halfway there now, but we know it'll be difficult at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had a lot of power in midfield in the first half, but we improved things well after the break and were able to lift our heads up again.

We have an excellent two-goal advantage, but Chelsea are very strong at home and they were also able to get an away goal. We'll go to London with the intention of not conceding a goal, but we'll still have to stay faithful to our philosophy of playing. We know we can score at any moment. Chelsea are a real proposition at home and we know they can score a lot of goals as well. We'll give everything in the return leg and play with our hearts.

Javier Pastore, Paris midfielder
It's a good result so I hope we will put in a good performance in the second leg to get through. I'm happy because I scored a very important goal and because this 3-1 win is a good result. It was a difficult game; Chelsea are a great team with great players, and this is the Champions League after all. The result isn't safe yet as we still have to play at Chelsea.