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PSG Produce Heroic Performance On Memorable Night In London To Beat Chelsea
On a night that will go down in Champions League history, PSG produce one of the great performances to stun Chelsea.
beIN SPORTS
Paris Saint-Germain are into the last eight of the UEFA Champions League after their 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Poised at 1-1 from the first leg, Les Parisiens came from behind twice to progress on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate draw - the same score as last year’s quarterfinal clash between the two.
Gary Cahill had given Jose Mourinho’s men the lead with just nine minutes left, but a bullet of a David Luiz header pulled PSG level before the end of the 90 minutes.
Eden Hazard restored the Blues’ advantage in extra time with a penalty after a Thiago Silva handball, but the Brazilian atoned with a brilliant looping header to make it 2-2 on the night and send the defending French champions through.
Away goals have worked against PSG in the past two editions of the competition; Barcelona eliminated them in 2013 after a 2-2 draw in Paris and a 1-1 tie in Catalonia, while Chelsea did the same last year with a 2-0 win in London after the French capital outfit had won 3-1 at Parc des Princes.
It is a monumental result for the Ligue 1 giants and one that was made all the more impressive by the fact that they managed to achieve it with 10 men.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was harshly sent off after 32 minutes by referee Bjorn Kuipers - who struggled to maintain control of the match throughout - and for the remaining 85 minutes, PSG had to pull together without their talisman to frustrate a lacklustre Chelsea.
Blanc, who was under pressure to get a result over the two legs in order to prove that his team have not regressed this season and to keep the club’s ambitious project upwardly mobile, was understandably elated after the final whistle.
"It's an immense joy for us. Bravo to my players,” Le President beamed to the press. “They were prepared for this kind of match and they gave an extraordinary performance from beginning to end. We were convinced we could in this tie over two legs.”
“The red card (for Zlatan Ibrahimovic) was a real kick in the head but even at half-time, I felt that my players were sure of themselves,” the 49-year-old continued. “The match played in out in somewhat crazy fashion and demanded a huge performance from the lads. Even at ten against eleven, we were really effective.”
Only the jubilation of his players and the travelling contingent of PSG supporters - who made as much, if not more, noise than the home fans - could match Blanc’s jubilation.
The dismissal of Ibrahimovic detracted a little from the evening’s shine, but only marginally.
It was a poor decision from Kuipers to show the Swede a straight red card after a 50/50 challenge with Oscar, where the Brazilian was just as guilty as the PSG man. UEFA are expected to investigate the decision, but it was just one of many flashpoints one an evening where tempers ran high at Stamford Bridge.
However, the sending off of Ibrahimovic was the making of PSG’s heroic tale. After the 33-year-old left the pitch, the remaining 10 players pulled together and once again showed just how formidable a team they can be without their Scandinavian talisman.
It is no coincidence that the French giants’ two best performances this season - both in the Champions League - have come when Zlatan is not on the pitch.
Back in September, PSG came out on top of a thrilling 3-2 win over Barcelona in Paris and Les Parisiens managed to achieve the result without their star man.
This time, although a completely different sort of match, the men from the French capital put in another united display and suggested that life after Ibrahimovic might not be as gloomy as many believe.
Even Chelsea boss Mourinho had to take his hat off to the PSG players for showing exceptional commitment and greater desire than their Chelsea opponents.
"PSG deserved to win. We failed,” stated the legendary Portuguese tactician bluntly in his post-match press conference. “We defended poorly from corners. When a team concedes two goals from corners, they can't deserve to win the match. When a team is unable to handle the pressure on their home ground against a side who are a man down, they don't deserve to win.”
“They had nothing left to lose and that allowed them to cut loose,” the Chelsea tactician added. “PSG were very good, while we deserved to be punished and eliminated. I always try to be pragmatic; we didn't deserve to go further in the competition and I have to accept that.”
While PSG only appear to have equalled their performance for the past two seasons by reaching the quarterfinals again on face value, this result and them earning a place in the last eight of this year’s competition actually illustrates how much the team has grown.
Despite a limited number of changes to the same team that lost out in London last year - something that has led many to draw the conclusion that the current Ligue 1 titleholders have regressed - this team showed that it has progressed and can now legitimately consider themselves European giants.
The squad is now more experienced overall and the addition of a player like Luiz, with plenty of Champions League know-how, has added a lot to the team.
PSG can now look forward to the quarterfinal draw and genuinely fear nobody. Instead, there will be a number of sides in the hat for the last eight draw who now fear them instead.