Oct 02, 2012 01:39 AM EDT
Chelsea Transfer News: Petr Cech Not Taking Nordsjaelland for Granted; Delighted with Arsenal Victory

The result between the European champions against a Danish team making their first ever Champions League appearance might seem a foregone conclusion, but Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech stressed his side will not be taking anything for granted.

Chelsea were far from convincing in their opening Champions League encounter against Juventus, conceding a two-goal lead to eventually settle for a point at Stamford Bridge. The Blues will be hoping for an easier outing away to FC Nordsjaelland.

Both Chelsea and Juve are expected to advance from Group E, which also includes Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, but there have been plenty of instances when little-known teams have surprised the big boys, particularly away from home, where Chelsea's form in the group stages last season was far from convincing.

"At the start of every campaign it's important to get as many points as possible early on to qualify, then you can concentrate on the other games, that's the ideal situation," Cech told the club's official website.

"We will treat the game exactly the same as our last games. Whether it's a final or not, you have to be ready if you want to win matches.

"This is the Champions League, we take every opponent seriously. We want to win, that's clear, we've done our homework, and we have an idea, but we want to put our own style on the game."

Cech said he was looking forward to playing at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, the home ground of now Champions League regulars FC Copenhagen. Nordsjaelland will play their European games in Copenhagen's stadium, because their own home ground has been deemed to be too small.

"I like coming here because of the passion," the 31-year-old goalkeeper said. "When we played Copenhagen (in 2011) it was an interesting game, the whole town was right behind the team and I expect the same.

"It's a huge event in the history of Nordsjaelland, that's why we're playing here at Parken Stadium, so more people can come, they will want to show that they can play football and they deserve to be here in the group stage.

"With a great start the atmosphere is very good, but it's only a start, the campaign is very long and nothing is secured. We are empty handed but enjoying the moment.

"We have been doing well and getting the results we wanted, we are top of the league, which is a great position, but it's early days.

"Any victory will be good for us, but we know it won't be easy. We've come for three points, we are the favourites for the group as reigning champions, and all we can do is play our game and hopefully get the result we want."

Cech also was happy to pick up all three points against Arsenal in Saturday's English Premier League game and remain top of the table. "It's a great win, we wanted to stay top of the league," he added. "Everybody was saying that it would be a big test for us because Arsenal have been playing really well.

"We knew that if we didn't win we could have been behind for the first time this season, but we got the three points and I thought it was a good performance.

"We did really well over the 90 minutes, you expect Arsenal to have a few chances at home. It's just a pity because in the second half we had so many good counter-attacks, but we didn't pick the right pass to kill the game off, that's why it was still in the balance."

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