Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta insists winning the Champions League last term counts for nothing in this year's competition.

The Blues take on Zent St. Petersburg in their first game of the group stages in midweek.

After an impressive start in the Premier League in 2021/2022, the Blues want to continue that form in Europe in the coming weeks.

"Of course it felt very special, everybody enjoyed that night in Porto a lot, but now there is a new challenge ahead of us," said Azpilicueta to reporters during a pre-match press conference.

"We start from zero, like every team in Europe, so we know we need to fight hard to get to where we want to be and that starts from tomorrow. It's going to be a difficult game.

"We know that there is not a lot of room for mistakes, so from tomorrow we have to be focused. Whatever we did in the past was very special but that won't give us any advantage for this season.

"We have the experience, we have the desire, we are hungry to go further and we have to show that tomorrow."