1. The performance of referee Bjorn Kuipers
After half an hour, the Dutch official found himself at the centre of this stormy affair and never quite wriggled back to the periphery. His sending-off of Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a poor decision & he never really recovered from getting such a big call wrong.
Certainly, the Swedish striker was late with his challenge on Oscar but was in control, making the conscious decision to direct his tackling foot into the ground when making contact with the midfielder rather than raise his studs and follow-through.
In contrast, despite flicking the ball past the controversial attacker, Oscar was wild with his follow-through, catching Ibrahimovic with his studs across the shin. In the immediate aftermath, the PSG frontman acknowledged his rashness and put his hand up, offering an apology of sorts. Meanwhile, Oscar dramatically rolled and tumbled around the turf.
Kuipers was quite close to the incident and quickly moved for the red card but yellows to both players would have made a lot more sense and served as a warning for everyone to calm down. Instead, the red card and the circumstances surrounding it ensured the game swiftly morphed into a war of attrition.
Later, Kuipers missed a clear Chelsea penalty when Costa was taken down in the area under Cavani’s clumsy tackle while he also missed what looked a clear elbow from Luiz on the Spanish striker later in the half. But the running battle between centre-back and centre-forward had its origins in the opening minutes and was never addressed by Kuipers. The pair constantly sniped at each other & were involved in two other off-the-ball incidents during the game. In extra-time, Costa was so wound up that Mourinho pushed him into a wide area to get him away from trouble.
It’s never a good thing when a referee is the main talking point after a game finishes. Yes, the game was a difficult one to officiate. But this is the knockout stage of the biggest club competition in the world. With so much at stake, every decision can have major repercussions. A pressurised situation for any referee but Kuipers is experienced and respected and took charge of last year’s final.
Still, he had a poor night in London.
2. Chelsea’s cynicism
The easy point of reference here is the way the Chelsea players harangued Bjorn Kuipers following Ibrahimovic’s tackle. But, unfortunately, we’ve seen it before. There’s an irony to Angel di Maria getting a yellow card for tugging on a referee’s shirt while players consistently evade punishment for squaring up to officials or blatantly swearing uncontrollably in their face.
But that’s slightly off-topic. The game-plan from Jose Mourinho was about containment and the hosts allowed PSG dictate the majority of the play, even when Chelsea had an extra player. Outside of some early effective wing wizardry from Eden Hazard, the team offered little in the way of spirited attacks and when their opening goal came, rather inevitably it was from a set-piece.
Cesc Fabregas was largely anonymous once more while Costa seemed to relish settling scores with Luiz more than getting on the scoresheet or creating chances.
In the second-half, the home side did seem to be vaguely interested in pushing on and Branislav Ivanovic began to court an influence on the right side, getting forward and taking advantage of the extra man. But the tactic was fleeting & Chelsea seemed content to sit back, form one imposing defensive unit and dig in their heels for the remainder of the game.
Of course, there was method to Mourinho’s madness. Shutting PSG out was a much better ploy and suited his pragmatic style. By scoring, Chelsea didn’t change much because the French side had to find the net in London to have any hope of qualifying. So, the onus wasn’t on Mourinho’s side to thrill, it was on keeping PSG scoreless.
Given the team’s defensive abilities, it’s a solid plan. But in a Champions League knockout tie in front of your own fans, having such a disinterest in creating chances only succeeds in leaving a bitter taste in the mouth.
3. PSG’s new-found character and unity
When Chelsea took the lead in the first-leg through Ivanovic, you would’ve been excused for thinking the tie was done and dusted. But PSG showed grit and determination to force an equaliser when many expected them to fold.
After all, this is a club built on fantasy. Only founded in 1970, it has no history to call upon and its newness has ensured a real lack of definition or identity for a long time. Understandably, the Qatari-backed project has frustrated the invested parties more than enthused since it all began. On paper it sounded terrific: a big European epicentre, a sleeping giant, lots of money. But it’s never taken off. Yes, they’ve managed successive Ligue Un titles but that was always supposed to be a stepping stone to something bigger and better. Ultimately, they’ve fallen short in Europe when its mattered most.
They’ve reached the last eight three years running now. But this Chelsea result is a firm statement of intent. Always centred around stand-out individuals and with a persistent lack of togetherness because of the egos and dressing-room splits, they rallied without their star man last night. Each player dug deep for 120 minutes. They played with an intelligence and astuteness but it was a cliched sweat-drenched performance. There was a hunger, an edge, a belief, a team.
It will be close to impossible to deliver something similar again but this will be used as a blueprint. Memo to the Champions League: PSG have arrived.
