Cesc Fabregas speaks before Chelsea’s Champions League match against PSG. PHOTO CREDIT: Chelsea Twitter account @ChelseaFC.
Where: Stamford Bridge in Fulham, London, England
When: Wednesday, March 11 at 3:45pm Eastern on Fox Sports 1
Overview: After drawing in the opening leg, 1-1 in Paris, Chelsea enters this final leg at home with a slight advantage. The Blues lead on away goals, thus PSG must find the back of the net. Otherwise, this season’s Champions League run for the Red and Blue will end in the exact same fashion as last season; crashing out to Chelsea on away goals.
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The first match in Paris saw the visitors score a first half goal from an unlikely source. Three defenders linked up as Gary Cahill put a deft flick towards the PSG goal from a John Terry cross. Branislav Ivanovic met the ball and redirected it with his head past Sirigu to give Chelsea that all-important away goal. Chelsea looked rather comfortable after the goal and seemed to be cruising toward victory as they went into the locker room for halftime.
PSG came out of the break with greater attacking intent in the second half and found their equalizer 9 minutes into the half. Edinson Cavani found a gaping hole in the center of the Chelsea box and Blaise Matuidi sent a perfect cross that met the Uruguayan’s head for the equalizer. The home side looked to take the lead and had a few great chances, including a sequence in which Ibrahimovic’s shot was parried to Lavezzi, whose blast was blocked via desperate defending from the Blues. Cavani came extremely close to scoring a brace as he saw a shot that beat Courtois just go wide of the net.
To some extent, Chelsea were extremely lucky to get out of Paris with a draw after all the chances they conceded in the second half. Instead, they are now at an advantage heading to the comfortable confines of Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea Keys to Victory: For the Blues, the task at hand is much simpler than last season’s return leg to Stamford Bridge against PSG. Chelsea headed into that match behind 3-1 on aggregate. There, they played outstanding to win by the exact margin required to advance, without conceding a goal.
The Top Flight
It’s well known that Chelsea are properly built to park the bus, frustrate the opposing side, draw them in and strike on the counter. That is exactly what they need to do in this match.
Soaking up the pressure from PSG is much easier said than done, but if Chelsea remain organized and discipline, they will force PSG’s hand and use the deadly counter attack to strike back. The back line of Azpilicueta, Terry, Ivanovic, and one of Cahill or Zouma will need to be concentrated for 90 minutes to avoid a lapse similar to one that led to PSG’s goal.
Chelsea are coming off a week’s rest and will see Nemanja Matic return to the lineup. The Serbian was injured celebrating Chelsea’s Capital One Cup triumph. This is exactly the type of match that calls for the midfielder to take a destroyer role that he is capable of.
PSG Post
PSG Keys to Victory: The Parisian side will have their hands forced, but they are not short of attacking options. PSG are tired of hearing about last season’s away goals defeat and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi are ready to attack the Chelsea defense as they did in the first leg.
Blaise Matuidi and Marco Verratti did an excellent job of picking out moments to join the PSG attack, while also recognizing their defensive assignments to help David Luiz protect the back line. They will have to bring the same amount of intensity and play at a similar level or higher as to how they played in Paris. The deadly forwards for PSG are not going to get the ball themselves, so it will be important for the PSG midfield to find a way through Chelsea’s bus.
Serge Aurier and Lucas Moura have been ruled out for this match, but they also missed the first leg as well. As a matter of fact, PSG is expected to play the same XI at Stamford Bridge that troubled Chelsea in the first leg. PSG defeated Lens by a 4-1 scoreline over the weekend, but a majority of the first team players were rested for the impending battle ahead.
Players to Watch: It’s fairly obvious that Chelsea’s defense will need to play at a top level to employ their strategy, but this match cries Eden Hazard. The Belgian winger will be licking his chops when the visitors get desperate and are at the mercy of one of the better counter attacking players in the world.
Blaise Matuidi is the key for the Parisians in this one. As mentioned earlier, his creative ability and motor as a box to box midfielder will desperately be needed to find PSG a goal or two. The Frenchman is capable of doing the job as was seen from his brilliant cross three weeks ago in Paris.
Prediction: Chelsea 1, PSG 0. Despite the fact that this PSG side is better than last season’s version, Chelsea have made Stamford Bridge a fortress under Jose Mourinho. Blues fans will bite their nails for a majority of the match. They should be able to catch PSG pushing up desperately at the end, and the aforementioned Hazard will go on one of his trademark streaking runs and bury a goal after using Diego Costa as a decoy. Chelsea will knock PSG out en route to the Champions League quarterfinal berth.
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