With the Champions League Quarter finalist list beginning to take shape, it is the last chance saloon
for a lot of teams as their European foray hinges on their next 90 minutes
Chelsea find themselves
facing an uphill battle to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg
While it is of course an incredibly
difficult position that Chelsea have contrived, it is by no means an impossible circumstance for them.
Chelsea have been on a decent run of form since the departure of Jose Mourinho
In their last 10
Premier League games, Chelsea have won five and drawn five scoring 20 and conceding 10 as they
have climbed the table up to 10th place with 40 points, 10 behind Manchester City in fourth and the
last Champions League place
While many would have claimed they did foresee this Chelsea revival
coming, it was not clear that it would be so abrupt
The demise of Mourinho was as surprising as it
was quick as in the space of one summer, Chelsea went from Champions to chumps
So much was
written about their demise that the subject does not need any more analysis, but suffice to say that
Mourinho paid for his playerÂ’s poor form with his managerial life.
Fast forward three months and the landscape could not be different
The Blues have put distance
between themselves and the apparent relegation battle they had found themselves on the edge of
and, if an improbable amount of results go their way, then they might find themselves battling for a
Champions League place
Guus Hiddink seems to have done the simple things well
First of all he got
Diego Costa scoring again
The combative Spaniard was still at his physical best, but he seemed to be
putting all his energy into frustrating defenders with his physicality as opposed to scoring goals
Hiddink has changed this though with Costa scoring six goals in his last 10 games in all competitions
He has also moved onto 11 goals for the season which is a good return considering his poor form
throughout this campaign up until the turn of the year.
Hiddink has also been able to plug what is an uncharacteristically shaky Chelsea defence
The long
term injury to Thibaut Courtois and the poor form of Branislav Ivanovic had rocked their defence
while many claimed John Terry had lost his ability to play at the top level
However, Hiddink has
again stabilised the defence allowing Ivanovic to come back in to form most likely due to the
confidence and faith he placed in him through his selection as captain when Terry picked up an
injury
The form of Ivanovic is vitally important to Chelsea as he is one of their most underrated
players
While the likes of Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Willian generally make the headlines, it is
the performances of Ivanovic blunting a wingers attack or playing as an auxiliary centre back which
make Chelsea so robust
When he lost form, Chelsea did too and they plummeted down the table.
Hiddink has also rectified the hole in midfield which was left by the poor performances of Nemanja
Matic
This put more pressure on Cesc Fabregas who was caught out of position offensively as he
was attempting to contribute defensively
This then severely stunted Chelsea as their best passer
was not able to get into the right positions to influence play due to his increased defensive work
load
Hiddink chose to resurrect the faltering career of John Obi Mikel as the defensive shield in
place of Matic which gave Fabregas the cover to push further forward
While Mikel did seem out of
his depth against PSG in the first leg by first giving away the foul for the free kick which led to the
goal before deflecting the resulting strike past Courtois, it has given Matic the time to rediscover his
form in the smaller games
This may have been a masterstroke from Hiddink as if Matic were to have
played in the PSG game it may only have served to exacerbate his problems and bad form.
It seems then that what Hiddink has really added to Chelsea is stability
With the defence far more
robust than it has been this season, it allows the offensive players to focus on their own work as
opposed to constantly tracking back and finding themselves out of position due to a heightened
work load
This concept of Chelsea being robust is perhaps the best way to beat PSG
The French
side will look to dominate possession and Chelsea are a fantastic team without the ball
Previously
drilled by Mourinho, the Blues know what it will take to beat PSG
Their will be wave after wave of
attack and the defence will quite likely have to put in their best performance of the season while
Hiddink will hope that the way he has dealt with Matic will summon a game winning performance
from the Serb, akin to those which won Chelsea the title last season
If Chelsea can soak up PSGÂ’s
pressure then they will trust their speed on the break through Willian and Hazard
The last team that
visited Stamford Bridge needing goals was Porto and while they are not in the same class as PSG, it
shows exactly what Chelsea are capable of as they ran out comfortable 2-0 winners in a game which
could have been five or six nil.
Unlike Chelsea, the French champions have had a walk in the park this season
They currently sit top
of the French Ligue 1 on 74 points, 23 clear of second place Monaco
PSG have lost just once in 29
games in the league, winning 23 times
While the scale of PSGÂ’s crushing campaign is goliath, it must
be considered that the French league is not a particularly competitive league
Second place Monaco
recently bowed out of the Europa league against Tottenham after a humbling 5-2 defeat across two
leagues
More still, few teams have troubled PSG both due to the Champions star studded team but
also because the 19 other teams are significantly weaker than PSG both in standard of player and
financially
While it should not be ignored that PSG are a World class team, they are made to look
unbeatable by an incredibly weak league
Away from the ease at which they have won the league, they do have one of the WorldÂ’s best
players leading their attack
Zlatan Ibrahimovic really is one in seven billion
The Swede, both in skill
and wit, is as sharp as ever scoring some of the most audacious goals ever recorded
In the
Champions League in particular he has supplied a plethora of clever flicks and thunderous volleys
which have left spectators in awe
Ibrahimovic has scored 23 goals in 21 Ligue 1 appearancs proving
to be the driving force for the French Champions, helping them to 68 goals in 29 games.
Along with Ibrahimovic has been the form of Kevin Trapp in goal
After ousting Salvatore Sirigu as
starting goalkeeper, Trapp has been in fine form helping PSGÂ’s defence to a miserly 15 goals
conceded
He also made a superb save from Diego Costa in the first leg as the SpaniardÂ’s point blank
header was pushed away from goal with the keeper seemingly beaten
Trapp will need to be in good
form once again with the likes of Willian and the back in form Costa looking to book ChelseaÂ’s place
in the next round.
Chelsea can take heart from their previous record against PSG though
Generally the team with the
advantage from the first leg has failed to progress to the next stage
In the 2013/14 season PSG beat
Chelsea 3-1 in France before a late Demba Ba striker sealed a 2-0 win for Chelsea
The next season,
Chelsea left France with the advantage after a 1-1 draw but they were then eliminated after a 2-2
draw in London
This season PSG fly to England with the advantage and if the last two seasons are
anything to go by then Chelsea can be quietly confident
Past results omitted, it could come down to
the form of the centre backs
Thiago Silva and David Luiz will attempt to repel the likes of Costa,
Willian, Hazard and Pedro while, if John Terry is still injured come Wednesday, Gary Cahill and
Branislav Ivanovic will have to hold their own against Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Lucas.
This last 16 tie promises to be a dramatic one with neither side deeming elimination at this stage a
success in Europe
PSG have been in good form all season and Chelsea seem to be peaking at the
right time and if past matches are anything to go by then one of these sides is in for a late heart-
breaking defeat that puts paid to their hopes of European glory for another year.
Final predicted score:
Chelsea 3
PSG 1
Source : DSG
Source: DSG