Chelsea crashed out of the Champions League after drawing 2-2 at home the PSG (3-3 aggregate). The score line see’s the French side go through after the Blues were far from their best. A dejected performance in the second half from the Premier League side could not handle intense pressure from Paris St Germain. Not many Chelsea fans will be able to argue with this result, in the end the better team of the night prevailed.
Influencing Blues
A game changing moment filled with controversy. Half way through the first half Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw red after a reckless challenge on Oscar in an attempt to win a loose ball. Dutch official Bjorn Kuipers was very quick to draw the red card and seemingly had his mind made up instantly. Despite this, Paris St. Germain players were furious at the way the Chelsea players reacted, hinting that they influenced the decision. No one likes to see the referee being bombarded with players around him, by the letter of the law it should be the two captains and only the two captains. You can only feel Chelsea players are feeling slightly aggrieved after the latest run of poor decisions that have gone against them. It cannot be condoned but maybe justified.
Hazard on the verge
PSG started with a full Brazilian defence. Marquinhos filled in at right back instead of Van Der Wiel. The central defender never looked comfortable marking Eden Hazard, Chelsea saw this as a weakness and tried to exploit the right back as much as they could. The blues found an abundance of space in behind Marquinhos, Hazard was constantly able to beat the Brazilian, he always looked on the verge of something. The Belgium struggled in the second half as PSG threw everything at Chelsea but still looked Chelsea’s most dangerous player on the ball. His performance was justified with a deserved goal from the spot after Silva handled in the box. Hazard was coolness personified as always when he passed the ball past Sirigu.
Flocculating energy levels
Straight from kick off Chelsea showed a tenacious style of pressing. During patches of the season so far there have been several occasions that signs of fatigue have been creeping into Chelsea’s game. The rest showed in periods of the first half, the likes of Oscar and Hazard really put a shift in during the first half. As the game settled and PSG saw a lot of the ball deep in their own half, Chelsea used the energy to break and break quickly. However the energy levels dropped during the second half, Chelsea were being heavily over run despite have the extra man. Even with having a week to prepare for the game, questions will surely be raised.
David Luiz won’t be missed
The Brazilian came into this tie as somewhat of a fan favourite at Stamford Bridge. The central defender was admired by many in West London, however after tonight’s showing many will be keen to see the back of Luiz. Throughout the game Luiz was at constant confrontation with Diego Costa. The pair clashed after Costa went in late on PSG Captain Thiago Silva, with suggestions that Luiz was attempting to get Costa sent off. Luiz looked to try and tease Costa into a head butt before campaigning to the referee why Costa should have been shown a red. Not mention to then go and score a late equaliser, inevitably followed by a chorus of boo’s.
