Evening all.
How are we? All set for a nice evening of Champions League knockout football? Good.
This should be a tasty affair and it’s nicely poised after the first game in Paris with PSG taking that 2-1 – Guus Hiddink’s only defeat since taking over from Jose Mourinho as Chelsea boss. That’s quite an impressive run.
Still, Laurent Blacn’s side are 23 points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table. So they’re favourites here, certainly.
Here are the teams for tonight’s clash.
Chelsea first.
And here’s what PSG’s starting lineup will look like.
Those tweets can be a little hard to make out sometimes so here they are again – the old-fashioned way.
CHELSEA: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ivanovic (c), Kenedy; Mikel, Fabregas; Pedro, Willian, Hazard; Diego Costa
Subs: Begovic, Baba Rahman, Matic, Loftus-Cheek, Oscar, Traore, Remy.
PSG: Trapp, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva (c), David Luiz, Maxwell, Thiago Motta, Rabiot, Matuidi, Di Maria, Moura, Ibrahimovic.
Subs: Sirigu, Augustin, Van Der Wiel, Stambouli, Kurzawa, Pastore, Cavani.
One change for both teams from the first-leg.
Kenedy comes into the Chelsea side with Baba Rahman dropping to the bench.
PSG have suffered a blow in the build-up to this game with tenacious midfielder Mauro Verratti ruled out with a groin injury and Adrien Rabiot replaces him.
Cesc Fabregas was on the bench for Chelsea in their 1-1 draw with Stoke at the weekend but he starts tonight.
Fresh from that brilliant strike against the Potters, Bertrand Traore must make do with a place among the substitutes as Diego Costa leads the line.
By the way, Benfica are through to the quarter-finals. They beat Zenit 2-1 in Russia to take their tie 3-1 on aggregate.
Where did it all go wrong?
Rabiot is only 20 but is being tipped for big things. He’s started the last number of games for PSG because of Verratti’s injury and he actually replaced the Italian in the first-leg in Paris.
Costa a ‘bit of a conman’ says Eamon Dunphy on RTE’s live coverage of this game. Standard.
Pre-match comments from Guus Hiddink:
We are underdogs tonight. Everyone knows our run in the first half of the season and we play a very solid team tonight.
Diego Costa is focussed on his job which is to score a goal, I have no complaints about him. He likes to play on the edge but that is what we like.
“We had to reshuffle our defence and Kenedy is a young guy with lots of confidence. I back him.”
Teams are on the pitch. Kick-off fast approaching. Predictions?
Impressive mop all the same, isn’t it?
KICK-OFF!
CLOSE! Costa shows good feet on the edge of the area after Rabiot’s error coughs up possession. He smacks it with his left but Kevin Trapp gets down at his near post to push it away.
CLOSE! Magnificent by Lucas Moura, who picks apart the Chelsea defence before slipping in Di Maria. He slides it past Courtois but Ivanovic is there to clear off the line. Lucky escape for the home side. From the corner, Ibrahimovic puts the ball in the net but it’s correctly called for offside.
No John Terry for Chelsea tonight and that lack of aggression may hit them hard. Some steady pressure here from the guests and Ibra’s latest shot is deflected for another corner.
Boris is here! A Chelsea fan, as well as a well-known Bayern obsessive.
A couple of silly challenges in quick succession. Matuidi goes in on Pedro and escapes with a warning and likewise Ivanovic on Ibra. Both offenders escaped without a yellow card. Referee Felix Brych allowing things slide for now. Meanwhile, Ibra tests Courtois from close range after di Maria’s miscued shot but he’s ahead of the play and the whistle goes.
GOAL! Rabiot!
Chelsea now in big trouble. There was acres of space as the ball was slipped into the right channel for Ibra, he sent a low cross to the far post and there was Rabiot to slide it home. Awful stuff from the home side who have been second-best since kick-off.
Long way to go, etc, but Chelsea need to find some gaps and create. Otherwise, you can see PSG getting another before the break.
Sadness in his eyes.
Selfish.
GOAL! Costa!
Good from Chelsea. Moments earlier, Willian bombed forward with industry and inventiveness. He looked up and saw six white shirts around him and none of his team-mates. Possession was squandered and it seemed a telling moment. But, get Costa the ball in the area and he’ll usually do damage. He strides onto a through-ball from Willian and cuts inside, onto his left, before pushing the low strike to the far corner.
Matuidi brings down Hazard and that’s his second foul. Needs to be careful. Meanwhile, in a very ironic incident, Costa is angry that no-one has spotted David Luiz’s robust off-the-ball tactics…
PERMUTATIONS: So, another Chelsea goal makes it 3-3 on aggregate. And we’d go to extra-time, etc. But another one for PSG would make it 4-2 on aggregate and Chelsea would need three. Simple.
By the way, we have had our first yellow card and it went to the PSG goalscorer Rabiot.
Magnificent piece of individual magic from Moura, who created excellent chance for di Maria early doors, as he raced to the by-line and somehow managed to hook in a cross for Ibra to head towards goal. Easy save for Courtois though.
Ooof. That’s poor from Fabregas. Willian does the hard work, nicking it past ex-colleague Luiz, and races down the right. Via Pedro, the ball is worked to Cesc but he strikes it with no confidence at all from the edge of the area. It rolls harmlessly wide of the post.
A second yellow card for PSG as Thiago Motta kicks out at Fabregas.
Costa ridiculously greedy as Chelsea counter quickly. Pedro dispossesses Lucas Moura and Costa races towards the area. On his shoulder is the former Barcelona man and just needs to be slipped through. But Costa holds it for far too long, Pedro pushes offside and Costa has to turn back inside where he loses the ball.
CLOSE! Trapp is a lucky boy. Costa’s shot has no power behind it whatsoever but the keeper makes a meal of it and fumbles. Pedro is following up but so too is Marquinhos who clears. Let-off for PSG.
HALF-TIME!
Well, that was a great half. A decent amount of chances created and action at both ends. It seemed all too easy for PSG as they effortlessly took the lead and they seemed in complete control.
Chelsea badly needed a goal to stay in the tie and, inevitably, it was Costa who did the business from inside the area. Once he grabbed the equaliser, the hosts were much brighter and threatened a number of times.
Willian has been a real star but they need another one and prevent PSG from getting anything else. And that may prove too difficult a task.
We all remember the outcry when Mario Balotelli did this while playing for Liverpool…
SECOND HALF!
CLOSE! And it’s Chelsea first out of the blocks here. Willian is central to it once again as he races down the left side this time and cuts it back for Costa whose shot is blocked. Good early intent from the home side at the start of the half.
Has Hazard just tweaked something here? He just seemed to grimace as he came out of a challenge and is looking over at the bench…
Willian cuts inside as Matuidi fronts him up…the midfielder seems to check him but Brych waves play on. The counter attack sees Lucas Moura clipped by Mikel and that’s cynical from him. Yellow card and a free-kick but the Chelsea players are furious that Matuidi wasn’t penalised at the other end.
Really am hoping that the PSG full-back scores a dramatic, game-influencing goal just so I can use the ‘Maxwell’s House’ headline.
Meanwhile, Pedro tries his luck from distance and the less said about it the better. PSG very quiet since the restart but onus is on Chelsea to push here.
SUBSTITUTION! Traore (on) – Costa (off)
Well, that just comes from nowhere. Costa crumples to the ground and points to the bench immediately with the game going on around him. Hard to know what happened but he’s done for the night and what a big blow for the home side. Traore, who scored a brilliant goal against Stoke at the weekend, replaces him.
CLOSE! Some action at the Chelsea end, finally. Rabiot slips it through for Ibra in the left channel but his touch is heavy and it takes him wide too. He does well to force a corner as Courtois comes out and blocks his attempted shot.
CLOSE! Willian cracks a low strike towards the near post after being allowed too much space to cut inside. Trapp does well to push it away – it’s a good hand – but he’s up quickly to make an excellent block from Hazard on the follow-up. This is heating up very nicely now.
GOAL! Ibrahimovic!
That’s superbly worked from PSG. Thiago Motta plays a magnificent through-ball for di Maria to run onto as Azpilicueta goes to sleep. The Argentine has an easy target – a towering Swede at the far stick – and the low cross is perfect for Ibra to finish high to the net.
Chelsea need three now and that looks beyond them, to be honest. Remember, with Chelsea struggling so much in the Premier League, this could be the last time they taste European football for a while. What effect will that have on the club and the new manager?
Hazard looks to be in trouble here as he pulls up after trying to dribble through a few challenges.
SUBSTITUTIONS! Oscar (on) – Eden Hazard (off) & Javier Pastore (on) – Lucas Moura (off)
Hazard is finally replaced after another disappointing evening. Meanwhile, PSG show off their depth by bringing in gifted but inconsistent Argentine Pastore.
CLOSE! It’s been a torrid night for Azpilicueta as PSG continue to bombard the right side of the Chelsea defence. Latest foray almost leads to own goal as Ibra’s presence causes problems.
SUBSTITUTION! Cavani (on) – di Maria (off)
What were we saying about PSG and squad depth?
Jim Beglin has uttered the words ‘Je suis Paris’ live on air. We have no idea why.
It’s taken 86 minutes but Matuidi has finally been booked.
Wonder what David Luiz makes of all of this? Pushed out of the Premier League and deemed not good enough by many. He’s been part of a side that’s done Chelsea twice in a row in Europe now.
FULL-TIME! Chelsea 1-2 PSG (2-4 on aggregate)
So, Chelsea are out of Europe. And it remains to be seen just how long it will take before they’re back.
There will be changes at Stamford Bridge this summer and it promises to be a big job for Antonio Conte or whoever will be prowling the touchline next term.
PSG were good tonight but not brilliant. They didn’t have to be. Chelsea didn’t start well but managed to force themselves back into it through Costa’s goal.
They created chances and yes, Trapp made an excellent double-save from Willian and Hazard just before Ibrahimovic scored that crucial second for the visitors.
Hard to know how far Blanc’s side will go in the competition but they were good value for the win tonight.
Thanks for staying with us and there will be plenty of more reaction on the site throughout the night.
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