FULL TIME: Chelsea 1-2 Paris Saint-Germain (agg 2-4)
And that’s that! The champions of France see off the champions of England. PSG put Chelsea out for the second year running, and they’re into the hat for the quarter finals. In truth, they were the better side in both legs, though Chelsea kept it competitive deep into this second match. Guus Hiddink warmly congratulates his opposite number Laurent Blanc, as PSG gambol across to their fans in celebration. We’d usually say “ah well, there’s always next year” at this point, but for once Chelsea are struggling to qualify for the big one. Having said that, they’re one of the form teams in the Premier League, so that route’s not closed yet. And hey, there’s always the FA Cup.
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90 min +1: Two minutes of added time, then. The first is soundtracked by some defiant Chelsea sing-song.
90 min: A free kick for Chelsea out on the right. The home heroes load the box. Willian whips into the mixer. A late consolation? Nope. Ivanovic elbows Motta in the side, and the Chelsea captain is booked for his sauce.
89 min: PSG are playing keep ball now. The away fans are enjoying themselves. Olé! Olé! Olé!
87 min: Matuidi departs, and on comes Van der Wiel. Admin’s all that’s left to report. This match was over the minute Ibrahimovic tapped in PSG’s second.
86 min: Matuidi is booked for a cynical tug on Pedro. He should have been booked in the early exchanges, of course, not that any of this really matters now.
85 min: Traore has a whack from distance, but Trapp gathers easily. Meanwhile hep cat Wilson Beuys has only just stopped listening to the half-time entertainment: “If you’re going to do Paris, you should use MC Solaar’s version, you old traditionalist.”
83 min: Cavani is almost immediately sent scampering clear down the middle by a first-time Motta pass, but he didn’t bend his run enough to beat the offside trap.
82 min: Edinson Cavani comes on for Di Maria.
80 min: Di Maria slips a ball down the left to release Maxwell. It’s nearly a carbon copy of PSG’s second, a low fizzing cross met by Ibrahimovic in the six-yard box. But the big man can’t quite connect properly, and the ball squirts to the feet of Courtois, who can clear his lines. Chelsea are almost certainly out; they don’t want to suffer an embarrassing scoreline as well. That was a little too easy for Paris. Just another ten minutes to hold it together.
78 min: Lucas is replaced by Javier Pastore. Willian, excellent all night as usual, turns the jets on down the left and earns Chelsea another corner. This one’s pretty poor too, Thiago Silva clearing easily, under no pressure.
77 min: Hazard twists and turns on the left, earning a corner off Marquinhos. Fine play. A goal now, and you never know. Hazard doesn’t want a part of any comeback, though; he points down at his legs, wincing, and asks to come off. Chelsea waste their corner, then Hazard departs, Oscar taking his place.
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75 min: A bit of space for Fabregas, just to the left of the PSG box. He bursts into the area and looks to beat Trapp at his near post, but the low shot doesn’t have enough steam, and it’s easily dealt with.
73 min: Hazard embarks on an ambitious dribble down the right. He rather brilliantly beats three men, but a fourth on the edge of the area puts a stop to his gallop. Hope is in short supply for Chelsea right now. PSG continue to dream, though: Ibrahimovic makes good down the left and fires low into the centre, where Di Maria attempts a back-flick into the bottom-left corner. Not quite. Courtois claims.
71 min: Willian attempts to inject a little pace back into Chelsea’s game, but his team-mates are clearly deflated. His burst down the left is easily snuffed out by Marquinhos. “A shame about Costa,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “Especially as it’ll be another 18 years or so before Chelsea can call on Brazilian wunderkid Donaldo as his replacement.”
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69 min: How important that Trapp double save looks now. The atmosphere has been sucked out of Stamford Bridge. Chelsea need three goals in the next 21 minutes. And there’s no chance of extra time.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-2 PSG (Ibrahimovic 67; agg 2-4)
Well, this came out of nowhere, and it looks to have done for Chelsea’s Champions League dream. Di Maria, out on the left, plays a loose pass inside. Willian looks like getting to it first, but Motta is super sharp and plays it straight back down the inside-left channel for Di Maria, who is free in acres! He enters the area and fires low into the centre, where Ibrahimovic is there to sidefoot home from close range. What a pass by Motta to turn a mistake into a game-changer!
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65 min: But Chelsea need a goal to force extra time, and they’re not about to die wondering. Willian drifts in from the left and, on the left-hand edge of the D, hammers a low shot towards the bottom left. It’s a brilliant effort, and stopped by a strong Trapp hand. The ball flies to Hazard, to the left of goal. Hazard belts low and hard - and Trapp stops that one too! Willian has another go on the penalty spot, but it’s a proper stramash now, and he can’t get the shot away. Paris escape. Wow.
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63 min: Yes, they’re on the front foot suddenly. Ibrahimovic powers his way into the Chelsea box down the left, and he’s one on one with Courtois! Happily for Chelsea, he’s faced with a very tight angle, and the keeper wins that battle. Ibrahimovic’s attempted slide under Courtois is nicked out for a corner, and nothing comes from the set piece.
61 min: Di Maria sends Marquinhos skittering at speed along the right wing. Marquinhos whips low to the near post, but Ivanovic, at full stretch, belts the ball away from danger. But already it looks like PSG have gained heart from Costa’s departure. A spring in their step.
60 min: Awful news for Chelsea. Diego Costa, who has been absolutely brilliant all evening, a constant menace, has tweaked a muscle and he’s got to go off. The 20-year-old Bertrand Traore - who has scored in his last three home games - replaces him.
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58 min: This is good old-fashioned end-to-end fun. Maxwell enters the Chelsea area on the left, but his high cross to the right is claimed by Courtois with Ibrahimovic lurking. Fabregas then slides Costa into space down the Chelsea left. Corner, from which Pedro screws a shot weakly left from 20 yards.
56 min: Azpilicueta, deep on the right, plays a diagonal pass forward for Hazard, who dummies. And suddenly Costa is free down the inside-right channel! He draws Trapp and scoops over the keeper and into the net from the edge of the box, a delicious chip. But he’d been caught a yard offside. What a shame, because that was a picture-book finish.
55 min: Willan earns a corner out on the left, and takes it himself. It’s headed clear at the near post by Marquinhos. This surely isn’t going to end 1-1, though good luck guessing the next scorer correctly. A brilliant, open, unpredictable and entertaining match.
54 min: Di Maria’s free kick from the left isn’t very good, but it’s recycled by Motta on the right. He hooks the ball into the centre, where Ibrahimovic is free, eight yards out. But he’s offside.
53 min: Willian, to the right of the Paris D, shapes to shoot. He’s clipped to the floor by Matuidi. Or is he? No, he went over before there was any contact. No free kick. PSG flood upfield, and the home fans aren’t happy when Lucas sashays in from the left and is clipped from behind by Mikel. A free kick, and a booking for the Chelsea man.
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50 min: Chelsea are closing PSG down with a great intensity. Ibrahimovic is caught lumbering on the halfway line by Hazard, who very nearly sends Costa clear down the right. His pass slips out of play. Very close to launching a dangerous attack there.
49 min: Ah yes, Chelsea are right into this again now. Willian goes screeching off down the left, and upon reaching the byline tugs a low ball back into the middle for Costa. The goalscorer can’t make contact, but Azpilicueta, behind him, can. He sidefoots goalwards, but it’s blocked instantly and cleared.
48 min: Now Di Maria’s close to latching onto a pass down the right. Not quite. Costa tries to kick-start Chelsea’s second half with a rumbustious run down the inside-left, but he loses control on the edge of the box.
47 min: The French champions stroke it around the back for a while. A pensive start to the second half. Then after 90 seconds or so of sterile possession, Maxwell is sent scampering down the left. He nearly breaks into the box, but is hounded out of it by the excellent Azpilicueta.
The second half is underway!
No changes. PSG get the ball rolling for the second 45.
HALF TIME: Chelsea 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain (agg 2-3)
There’s time for Costa to shoot low and hard towards the bottom corner, and for Trapp to make a mess of the save - Maxwell had to hook clear with Pedro rushing in for the rebound - but that’s that for the half. What a brilliant half of football. PSG threatened to run away with the game in the early stages, but they were holding on by the end of the 45. It’s going to be a magnificent second half, and we may get the bonus of extra time too. You’ll not be going anywhere, will you?
45 min: Fabregas is booked for high-kicking Motta. Though it should be noted that Motta, in defending himself, crumped his studs on Fabregas’s breastplate by way of exchange. Motta’s already been booked, remember. Hmm.
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44 min: Pedro picks Lucas’s pocket in the centre circle. He eats up plenty of ground, then hands the ball to Diego Costa, who attempts to ride a couple of tackles through the middle to break into the box. It’s not working this time, and the ball eventually loops through to Trapp. Pedro, waiting for a return pass to Costa’s left, throws his hands up in irritation.
42 min: Chelsea are much the better team now. Costa powers his way through a couple of challenges, ignoring the laws of physics to keep possession. The ball eventually breaks left for Hazard, who glides back inside and looks to curl one into the top right. There’s not enough outward bend on it, and Trapp traps it.
41 min: Fabregas looks to break upfield from deep, and is brought down by Motta’s outstretched leg. He’s booked. There wasn’t a lot in that. So much for the referee’s leniency.
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40 min: Chelsea saunter upfield, Pedro dancing on the edge of the D before laying off for Fabregas, who slaps a first-time shot low, hard and just wide of the left-hand post.
39 min: PSG press Chelsea back for the first time in a while. Lucas has a look down the right, Ibrahimovic attempts a couple of twists and turns down the left. But Chelsea hold their shape. Nothing doing.
37 min: A bit of a lull. This half has flown by! Brilliant entertainment. “This does seem to be an almighty ding-dong in the making,” argues Ian Copestake. “Indeed, perhaps it will even transcend ding-dongs and leave one side pondering Ingeborg Bachmann’s famous pessimistic saying that history constantly teaches, but finds no students.” Did that go over your head too? Just me?
35 min: Lucas is sprung clear down the right wing. He reaches the dead ball line and whips high to the far post, where Ibrahimovic rises high above Azpilicueta and plants a downward header goalwards. Courtois is in the right position to claim. Chelsea go straight up the other end, Costa making ground along the left. He’s clattered by Rabiot, and finally the referee gets his card out. Willian’s free kick goes straight down the throat of Trapp, a dreadful waste with the box loaded.
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32 min: Di Maria goes down in a lot of pain after Fabregas stands on his foot. No booking. There wasn’t a booking when Maxwell clipped Hazard a couple of minutes ago, either, or when Costa halted a charging Ibrahimovic. You’ll have seen them all given on another day. At least the ref’s being even-handed, so neither team can have too many complaints.
31 min: Costa, cutting in from the left, one-twos with Willian and is this close to breaking clear into the box. Thiago Silva steps in to intercept, just in time.
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29 min: That’s a fine response by Chelsea, who were all over the shop before and after the opening goal, but dug in and fought their way back into this match. This really is on now. Another goal for Chelsea, and we’ll get extra time tonight.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 PSG (Costa 27; agg 2-3)
Willian and Pedro combine down the middle, a couple of crisp passes. The ball’s slipped forward to Diego Costa along the inside-right channel. He enters the box, drops a shoulder to his left to send Thiago Silva spinning like a teenager on Special Brew, and sidefoots a confident finish into the bottom left. PSG can tweet about that one! Some fraud.
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25 min: Ibrahimovic, dropping deep in his own half, nearly sets Di Maria clear down the middle with a 1980s-style hoof. Hey, those can be pretty too. Di Maria’s a few inches offside, which is just as well as Chelsea were wide open. Then up the other end, Willian is close to setting Pedro whizzing into the PSG box down the right, but Pedro gets his feet all tangled up and the chance is gone. But no matter, because ...
23 min: Now it’s Willian’s turn to play a loose ball deep inside his own half. He’s very fortunate that Lucas touches it heavily, and Azpilicueta can close down the danger before the PSG man bursts clear down the left. Tense times.
21 min: PSG are far from perfect, though. A loose Marquinhos pass allows Hazard to come at the visitors again, this time down the left. He can’t deliver a dangerous cross. Then there’s another phase of attack, Fabregas looping a straight pass down the middle. Costa is miles offside, and his attempted chip over Trapp flies over the bar. But the last couple of minutes have provided Chelsea with some much needed succour after the shock of conceding that goal.
19 min: This is a little better from Chelsea, as Hazard, on the right-hand corner of the PSG box, turns Luiz with ease and fizzes a low shot towards the bottom right. The effort’s blocked, but small acorns and all that.
18 min: More space for Paris down the right, young Kenedy’s flank. Motta romps into the area, but his cutback doesn’t find a team-mate, and Chelsea hack clear. The mood at the Bridge is somewhat subdued right now, as you’d expect. PSG are coming at the hosts again and again with extreme prejudice.
GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 PSG (Rabiot 16; agg 1-3)
This had been coming. Di Maria is in a lot of space in the middle of the Chelsea half. He slides Ibrahomovic into the area down the right. Ibrahimovic slides a low pass through the six-yard box. Coming in, Rabiot, who taps home ahead of Azpilicueta. Chelsea need to score twice now to take this to extra time.
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14 min: Ivanovic brings Ibrahomovic down on the PSG right flank. Di Maria asks the referee to get out his book, which is a bit of a cheek considering what Matuidi has just got away with. From the resulting free kick, Di Maria hooks diagonially right to left, the ball dropping to Ibrahimovic, on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Courtois smothers his low drive, and he’s offside anyway. But the Chelsea back line were taking a collective chance in pushing up there. Not a lot in it.
12 min: Pedro spins around Matuidi along the right wing. He’s away, and cynically hauled back. A free kick, though no booking, which is strange. The referee very lenient there. Willian flings the set piece into the mixer, but PSG hold their shape well.
9 min: PSG are on top right now. Maxwell very nearly finds Lucas down the left with a long rake. Then Ibrahimovic bursts down the left wing, into the area, and his shot is blocked out for a corner. The set piece comes to nothing. “Say what you like about the future Brazilian centre-half Trumpinho, but whenever his team are penalized on the edge of their area, he’ll get that wall sorted out quick.” Justin Kavanagh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the cachaça.
6 min: ... PSG find the net, though it won’t count. The corner from the right is half cleared. Luiz lifts the ball back into the mixer. Motta, on the edge of the six-yard box, heads to the left for Ibrahimovic, who draws Courtois and chips home. But the striker’s well offside from the knockdown, and he knows it too. Stamford Bridge drew its collective breath there, sucking in hard.
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5 min: Lucas bursts down the middle of the park before slipping a ball down the right channel to release Di Maria into the Chelsea area. He’s one on one with Courtois, albeit at a tight angle. He chips over the keeper, but Chelsea’s captain for the night, Ivanovic, slides in to hook clear before the ball can dribble into the net. Corner. From which...
3 min: Hiddink’s decision to employ Kenedy as a left back tonight has raised a few eyebrows, but you can already see his thinking, as Hazard very nearly sends the young man skittering clear down the left on the overlap. Then Paris make an awful pig’s lug of clearing their lines, and the ball breaks to Willian on the left-hand corner of the box. He shifts the ball inside for Costa, who nearly makes the PSG social media guru pay for their lip by unleashing a shot from the edge of the area towards the bottom right. Trapp parries well, and Paris do their defensive thing at the second time of asking. A bright start by the English champions.
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And we're off!
Chelsea get the ball rolling. It’s a stunning atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. Pedro is quickly scampering down the right wing in plenty of space, but his ball inside isn’t up to much. The visitors take their turn to stroke the ball around awhile.
Anyway, the teams are out. Chelsea in their famous blue, Paris in their change strip of white. We’ll be off in a minute, once The Liquidator is played!
Guus Hiddink speaks! “It is true we are underdogs. Everyone knows our run in the league in the first half of the season. We have a bit more confidence now, but we are playing a very solid team. Diego Costa will focus on his job [rather than PSG’s saucy tweets]. He likes to play on the edge, but he never goes over. Because of the absence of John Terry, we have had to reshuffle our defence. Kenedy is a young guy and he is full of confidence.”
On the subject of Chelsea’s stand-in full-back, here’s Peter Oh: “If Chelsea have Kenedy, who is PSG’s Nixon? Ibrahimovic’s occasional lack of touch with reality could make him a candidate. I have some familiarity with Brazilian culture and have noticed a tendency of some parents there to name their kids after American presidents. Washington and Jefferson seem to be popular choices and there’s been the occasional Lincoln, but Kenedy is new to me. I just cling to hope that this tradition won’t be marred by hordes of boys named Trumpinho kicking about on the streets of Rio and Salvador a few years from now!” Agreed, here’s hoping the winning goal at the 2042 World Cup is scored by Hillaré or Bernicha. Of course Cristiano Ronaldo was named after Ronald Reagan, wasn’t he, CR7’s pop having been a big fan. It was all about Reagan’s acting chops rather than his political savvy, Bedtime for Bonzo taking preference over trickle-down economic policy.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has just been asked the big question by BT Sport: where will he be playing next season? “I don’t know.” So there you have it. If I was a better journalist I could spin an 800-word news story and three opinion pieces out of that. But I’m not. So if you’re after some more hot chat, this interview with absent PSG midfielder Marco Verratti, from earlier in the week, will have to do.
Both teams suffered disappointing home draws at the weekend, against Stoke City and Montpellier respectively. No doubt as a result of leaving out some key men.
Chelsea make four changes. Kenedy, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Diego Costa return, while Abdul Baba Rahman, Nemanja Matic, Oscar and Bertrand Traore drop to the bench.
PSG meanwhile make five changes from Saturday. Their captain Thiago Silva, star man Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Motta, Blaise Matuidi and former Chelsea favourite David Luiz are back. Gregory van der Weil, Benjamin Stambouli and Edinson Cavani are benched, while Presnel Kimpembe and Christopher Nkunku miss out altogether.
Tonight's teams
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ivanovic, Kenedy, Mikel, Fabregas, Pedro, Willian, Hazard, Diego Costa.
Subs: Begovic, Baba Rahman, Matic, Loftus-Cheek, Oscar, Traore, Remy.
Paris Saint-Germain: Trapp, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Maxwell, Thiago Motta, Rabiot, Matuidi, Di Maria, Moura, Ibrahimovic.
Subs: Sirigu, Augustin, Van Der Wiel, Stambouli, Kurzawa, Pastore, Cavani.
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany).
🎼 ♭ Die Meister! ♫ Die Besten!!! ♪ Les gra-aaaa-aaandes équipes!!!!! ♫ The champ-iiii-oooonnnnnnnnnsAH. ♪ ♫
This one’s beautifully in the balance. Paris Saint-Germain were probably the better side in the first leg of this tie, but only just, Chelsea coming ever so close to a determined draw. Edinson Cavani’s late goal was the difference, though, and so the reigning English champions need a positive result tonight to avoid being dispatched from this glorious tournament by their French counterparts for the second year in succession.
Chelsea put PSG out in the quarters a year previously, of course, having turned around a 3-1 first-leg deficit. So hope springs eternal. Not least because the Blues are unbeaten in seven home games against French opposition, keeping five clean sheets during that run. However, there’s been danger whenever they do concede: PSG prevailed after a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge last year, and Monaco pulled off exactly the same stunt in the 2004 semis.
Both clubs can gain succour from favourable statistics. Chelsea have won eight of the 13 European ties in which they’ve lost the first leg, most recently against PSG two years ago. PSG meanwhile have won 11 of the 15 European ties in which they’ve owned the first leg. But of course the last such tie was that one against Chelsea in 2014. Good luck calling this.
So yes, someone’s going to end the evening in a very disappointed state. Chelsea are looking for their fourth quarter-final in six years, a seventh in the last ten. Paris meanwhile are aiming for their fourth successive appearance in the quarters. Neither of these clubs are particularly used to failure. Chelsea have had their problems this season, it’s true, but they’ve lost just one of their last 17 games: the first leg of this tie in Paris. PSG meanwhile have lost just one of their last 26 matches, a recent 2-1 league reverse to Lyon. But one of them will have to suck it up tonight; a strange sensation. It’s a seismic clash between two of the biggest – and richest – clubs in Europe. It’s London versus Paris. It’s Russia versus Qatar. It’s on!
Kick off: 7.45pm GMT in Hammersmith & Fulham; 8.45pm over in Paris.
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