Champions League Round of 16: Week One Preview
Paris Saint-Germain (Ligue 1) v. Chelsea (EPL)
Where: Parc des Princes in Paris, France
When: Tuesday, February 17 2:45pm Eastern, Fox Sports 1
Overview: PSG defender David Luiz wore Chelsea blue last season to help the West London side defeat PSG in the quarterfinal round of the Champions League. After a £50 million move to Paris, Luiz takes on many of his former mates in a two-leg fixture that is pegged as the top match up of the round.
Unfortunately for Paris Saint-Germain, 4 of their players are hampered with injuries suffered over the weekend. Serge Aurier, Yohan Cabaye, Lucas Moura, and Marquinos all came down with recent injuries and Blaise Matuidi is doubtful while Javier Pastore is questionable. That’s quite the list of injuries that can debilitate a side, but it won’t prevent the attack of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, and Ezequiel Lavezzi from threatening a stout Chelsea defense.
Meanwhile, Diego Costa returns after a three match ban as one of the threatening Blues that PSG did not have to deal with last season. Aditionally, Juan Cuadrado and Eden Hazard should bring pace on the wings and Cesc Fabregas, if he gets over a flu bug that is apparently putting him in jeopardy for the match, should have space to operate with the PSG injuries in midfield.
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Players to Watch: This one shouldn’t be too difficult. For Chelsea, it’s forward Diego Costa. The Spanish international has missed the past three games, as mentioned above, for a stomping infraction and makes his return in a monumental match up. Will he be in decent match shape? Will he come back rusty or rested? To be successful, Costa will need to look hard for any open spots in that PSG defense as he’s one of the best poachers in world football.
For Paris Saint-Germain, the spotlight is easily on Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Is there any question about this? The enigmatic Swede is still getting it done at the age of 33 and he has an eye for the spectacular. Ibrahimovic is like a rattlesnake in that he could strike at any instant, so the Chelsea defense needs to make sure they shadow him all match while not giving too much space to one of his partners in crime, Edinson Cavani.
Prediction: Paris Saint-Germain 1, Chelsea 2. The injuries in midfield may be too difficult to overcome for the Parisian side, even at home.
Next: Shakhtar Donetsk v. Bayern Munich