AVB - Draw is difficult

The Blues discovered their fate on Friday, with a tough test awaiting them in the first knockout round.

Napoli have already dashed the dreams of Manchester City this season, taking four points off the Premier League leaders during the group stage.

The Serie A outfit will be looking for more of the same against Chelsea, and Villas-Boas admits his side will need to be on top of their game if they are to reach the quarter-finals.

"I think we have one of the most difficult draws, but whichever team you get in the last 16 will be a difficult team," Villas-Boas told Chelsea TV.

Exciting

"Napoli is a club that represents the city and the city has great empathy with the club. It has a tremendous fan base and it is one of the most difficult and exciting games of the last 16, no doubt about it.

"They are a side that works collectively very well and [Napoli coach] Walter Mazzarri has always been a coach that organises his teams very well.

"They have been improving tremendously under his guidance and have been gaining the results that they want and they expect.

"They are fully motivated and they have a lot of talent coming through like [Marek] Hamsik and [Edinson] Cavani. They have a lot of talent throughout.

"We are looking forward to the games and hopefully we can prepare well and hopefully we can go through."

Napoli are eager to prove they belong among the elite after making it through to the knockout stages for the first time.

Emotions

"It's not possible to say whether our tie is difficult or easy," Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Chelsea is a very strong team, but so is Napoli.

"Of course other teams have been more fortunate than us but we are nevertheless happy with the draw."

De Laurentiis added: "All eyes will be on this tie. It's going to be very interesting.

"My players need to know how to dominate emotions, but I am certain they will bring out their best."