Cardiff City manager Brian Barry-Murphy says their EFL Cup quarter-final draw against Chelsea is “everything you want” from the competition.
The Bluebirds have already demolished Premier League opposition to reach the last eight, beating Burnley in the third round, while also beating Swindon Town, Cheltenham Town and Wrexham.
Cardiff have beaten Chelsea in the EFL Cup twice before, in 1980 and 1986, but they are big underdogs going into their draw on Tuesday.
The Opta supercomputer gives Barry-Murphy’s side just an 8.8% chance of victory at the Cardiff City Stadium, and a further 11.3% chance of forcing the draw after 90 minutes. Chelsea is an overwhelming favorite with 79.9%.
And according to tournament predictions, Cardiff reach the semi-finals in just 15% of Opta’s simulations, while they are the only remaining side in the competition with less than a 0.1% chance of lifting the trophy.
But League One leaders are confident they can cause real problems for their illustrious opponents.
“The anticipation for the match since the draw has been all over the place,” he said.
“Luckily we’ve tried to separate ourselves from that as much as possible while we focused on the league campaign, but now that the time has come I think the game is going to be incredibly exciting for everyone.”
Barry-Murphy worked alongside Enzo Maresca at Manchester City, where he led the elite development team, while the Italian worked alongside Pep Guardiola in the first team.
As such, he is very aware of the threat the Blues will pose.
“For myself and the players, we still want to show ourselves in the best light and give a good image of ourselves when we compete against a team that is Club World Cup champions,” he added.
“We want to do our best and prepare well for this match.
“It’s everything you want. We all have the ambition to test ourselves against people at the highest level of the game.
“Every game we have played in the league we have tried to be ahead as much as possible and show ourselves in the most positive light.
“This is what the fans want to see both home and away. We have to try to give those fans something they can feel happy about.”
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