This is going to be so much fun. The Champions League round-of-16 tie between European powerhouses Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea is delicately poised at the halfway point after the two sides battled each other to an entertaining 1-1 draw at Parc des Princes in Paris on Tuesday.
The action now shifts to Stamford Bridge on March 11 with Chelsea now enjoying home field advantage. Can the Blues make this advantage count and book their place in the quarterfinals for the second year running? Or will PSG exact some revenge on Jose Mourinho’s men this time around?
Read on for a complete preview of this pivotal second-leg tie and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the Champions League second-leg showdown between Bayern Munich and Shaktar Donetsk here.
[sc:Soccer ]
UEFA Champions League Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea Predictions and Betting Preview
The winner of this second-leg tie seals a place in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Things become more complicated, however, if this match ends in a draw. In the event that this match ends in a goalless draw, Chelsea advances to the final eight by virtue of its away goal.
[sc:Soccer240banner ]In case the match ends at 1-1, the two teams will play an extra 30 minutes to determine the winner of the tie. In case the scoreline remains the same after extra time, the match will then move on to the dreaded penalty shoot-out.
If a scoring draw higher than 1-1 occurs, though, it is PSG that will advance this time around thanks to the away goal rule.
Betting on Paris Saint-Germain
“We will need to boss Chelsea in the second leg.”
Those were the stern words of PSG manager Laurent Blanc after his side eked out a 1-1 draw against the London outfit in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie in Paris on Tuesday. The French giants have no other option but to be on the offensive in a couple of weeks’ time with Chelsea holding the slight advantage thanks to Branislav Ivanovic’s away goal.
Blanc will fancy his side’s chances of advancing into the next round however, with the way they dominated Chelsea in the second half of their first-leg tie. Trailing 1-0 at the break, Blanc ordered his troops to attack with gusto in the second half and Edinson Cavani rewarded the Frenchman’s faith with a fantastic 55th-minute equalizer.
PSG was clearly on the ascendancy from that point onward but ultimately came up short in securing the victory. Ibrahimovic wasted a glorious chance to give PSG the precious win when his downward header was saved deep in injury time. Such was the dominance of the French outfit in this match that they outshot Chelsea 14-2.
For PSG to repeat that feat in the second leg, it will need to control the possession battle once again. Paris Saint-Germain had majority of the possession on Tuesday, holding the ball for 54 percent of the entire match. That was to be expected, though, considering Chelsea lined up in a purely defensive set-up.
The most important thing for PSG in the return encounter is to create some chances for them to grab that all-important goal at Stamford Bridge. The onus is on PSG’s world-class attacking duo of Cavani and Ibrahimovic to dissect Chelsea’s rearguard in the second-leg tie.
Cavani has been tearing it up on the European stage of late, scoring six goals in seven Champions League games for PSG this season. It will be Ibrahimovic, though, who needs to step up in PSG’s biggest match of the year. Ibrahimovic has struggled against teams managed by Jose Mourinho, though, as he has yet to score in seven career matches against the Portuguese manager.
It is advantage Chelsea at the halfway point of this epic European tie after the London giants held PSG to a nervy 1-1 draw Tuesday. Branislav Ivanovic scored the all-important away goal for Chelsea who are just 90 minutes away from clinching another Champions League quarterfinal appearance.
The match could have easily turned in PSG’s favor if not for the heroics of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian international was superb against the French champions as he thwarted wave after wave of PSG attacks the entire match. Courtois pulled off several spectacular saves, including a diving block of Blaise Matuidi’s header early on and Cavani’s near-post flick in the second half to preserve the draw.
Courtois has been a fantastic signing for Jose Mourinho this season providing a solid presence at the back for the London club. He has recorded a total of seven clean sheets for Chelsea this season, two of which came in the Champions League group stages.
Mourinho is banking on Courtois to record his third clean sheet in Europe against PSG in the second leg that will ensure Chelsea’s qualification to the next round. It will take more than Courtois, though, for Chelsea to stop a PSG side determined to avoid a repeat of their disastrous second-leg performance last year.
PSG held a 3-1 advantage heading into Stamford Bridge before Chelsea stunned the French side with a 2-0 victory in the second leg to advance on the away goals rule. The main difference this year is that it is PSG that will be on the attack in the second leg this time around.
With that scenario in place, it’s crucial for Mourinho to pack the midfield and pick apart PSG on the counter-attack. Fortunately for Mourinho, he can utilize the returning Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas for this specific game plan. Like Courtois, the two have been excellent signings for Chelsea this season with Costa leading the club in goals with 17 while Fabregas has been the fulcrum of Mourinho’s midfield, dishing out a team-high 15 assists.
Writer’s Prediction
The Blues advance to the quarterfinals with a narrow 1-0 second-leg win over PSG.
