Champions League: PSG, Chelsea Play to Thrilling Draw
Tuesday night’s Champions League clash between French giants Paris Saint-Germain and English titans Chelsea lived up to it’s billing. This match up had been touted as the top Round of 16 battle; and fans are in for quite the treat if the second leg goes anything like the first. The end result was a 1-1 draw, but it took some heroics from Chelsea keeper Thibault Courtois to keep it as such.
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The opening 10 minutes started as expected, both teams conservatively dipped their feet in the water and got a feel for the match and atmosphere at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Chelsea, at times, had all players behind the ball in playing their “park the bus” style. Meanwhile, the hosts had front man Edinson Cavani track back a couple times in the early going to thwart Chelsea attacks.
The hosts then decided to begin their onslaught on the Chelsea net. In a span of two minutes, the Belgian keeper was forced to stop threatening headers from PSG’s Blaise Matuidi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Matuidi header was going the opposite way of the keeper and had a clear path to the back of the net, but Courtois adjusted and made a sound stop.
Later in the first half, off a corner, Edinson Cavani headed a ball toward the near corner of the Chelsea goal with pace, but Courtois made another fantastic diving stop. Shortly thereafter, specifically in the 36th minute, the Blues struck from an unexpected source. John Terry gathered a ball outside the box; his cross didn’t seem like a good one as it bounced in front of Gary Cahill. Cahill then proceeded to put a Xavi-like flick toward the PSG goal that met the head of Branislav Ivanovic. The man endearingly known as “Branny” had another clutch goal for Chelsea to put the visitors ahead 1-0, and it remained that way heading into halftime.
The second half was all Paris Saint-Germain. In the 54th minute, Laurent Blanc’s side finally found a crack in the Chelsea defense for the equalizer. As a matter of fact, it was a gaping hole in the middle of the defense. Maxwell released Matuidi on the left wing, whose prefect service met the head of Edinson Cavani. It was as if Cavani had a restraining order on the Chelsea defense; he was open by quite a wide margin and made no mistake directing his header past a previously unbeatable Thibault Courtois.
The equalizer had the crowd buzzing, and a short time later they almost saw PSG take the lead. Ibrahimovic forayed his way into the box with a tricky dribble, but saw his left-footed blast stopped by Courtois. The rebound bounced perfectly right to Ezequiel Lavezzi whose follow up shot was going into what seemed an open net; only to be blocked by Cesar Azpilicueta.
Chelsea encountered a few more close scares before the end, which included former Blue David Luiz latching on to a Lavezzi free kick that Courtois tipped over the bar. Chelsea looked increasingly vulnerable to crosses and the Parisian side knew that all they had to do was provide better service. Luckily for Chelsea, Thibault Courtois was their man of the match, standing on his head many times when the defense let him down. Finally, PSG had a late opportunity with Cavani neatly dribbling past the defense, but seeing his poke go inches wide of goal.
Marco Verratti and David Luiz did an exceptional job all game of containing Chelsea’s explosive offense as the former continued to lay crunching tackles until referee Cüneyt Çakir was finally forced to book him in the 78th minute. Additionally, Edinson Cavani was very active on the offensive end, coming back to the midfield to collect the ball in some situations, while making center forward-like runs in others.
The fact that PSG could not finish their opportunities bodes very well for the West London club. Chelsea now go home to Stamford Bridge tied in aggregate, but ahead on away goals. That means Paris Saint-Germain have to score a goal to have a chance of advancing. The second leg will have all the answers to the questions asked at the conclusion of this match. Will PSG be eliminated on away goals for a third straight year and against Chelsea for a second straight year? Will Chelsea tighten up their defense at home and park the bus in hopes of shutting the French side down? Tune in on March 11 for the conclusion of this enticing battle.
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