After a two-month hiatus, Europe’s biggest soccer competition makes its much-anticipated return as the UEFA Champions League kick off with the round of 16 matches. Defending Premier League champions Chelsea take center stage this coming Tuesday as they resume their quest for their second Champions League crown when they square off with French champions Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes.
Who will grab the edge in the first leg of this all-important Champions League showdown? Read on for an in-depth breakdown of this European clash and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the Champions League first-leg tie between Zenit and Benfica.
Paris Saint-Germain’s preparations for their Champions League tie with Chelsea have been thrown into disarray following the suspension of defender Serge Aurier after allegedly aiming homophobic slurs at manager Laurent Blanc and star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The 23-year-old has been a regular under Blanc this season and was part of a PSG backline that surrendered just 12 goals in Ligue 1 this season.
The latest news coming from France is that PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has decided to permanently axe Aurier from the squad. If that is indeed the case, that will be a major boost for a Chelsea attack that scored 13 goals in the group stages this season, third-highest in the Champions League this campaign.
That won’t faze the French giants, though, as they have been playing some excellent football this season. PSG are already a whopping 24 points clear in Ligue 1 and have not lost in 34 league matches with a jaw-dropping record of 22 wins and four draws this campaign. They have lost only one game this season, a 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League group stage.
For PSG to continue that superb winning run, they will need to put the clamps on the rejuvenated Diego Costa. With his goal against Newcastle, the Spanish international has now taken his tally to eight goals in 10 games under Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink.
Chelsea will head into their Champions League round of 16 clash with PSG with momentum on their side after crushing Newcastle, 5-1, at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Diego Costa, Pedro, Willian and Traore were the goalscorers for the Blues who climbed into 12th place in the Premier League standings with 33 points to their name.
The decision to replace manager Jose Mourinho with Guus Hiddink has proven to be a masterstroke for the Blues as they have yet to lose in 12 games under the heralded Dutch tactician. Things are bound to get tougher, though, for the defending English champions as they will next face powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie.
The Blues know full well the danger the French side can bring as they were sent packing by PSG in the same stage of the Champions League last year. A late Thiago Silva header in extra time against Chelsea ensured PSG’s qualification into the quarterfinals via the away goals rule (3-3).
Thwarting this lethal PSG attack will be doubly harder for the Blues as injuries have ravaged their once-solid backline. Captain John Terry is a major doubt for Chelsea’s midweek clash with PSG after suffering a hamstring injury in the first half of their game against Newcastle. That’s a huge blow for a Blues defense that is already missing the services of Kurt Zouma who’s out with a torn cruciate ligament.
With Zouma and Terry out, the onus is on Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic to provide solidity at the back for Chelsea. There’s still plenty of experience, though, with this make-shift central pairing as Cahill and Ivanovic were part of the side that eliminated PSG from the Champions League in the quarterfinals two years ago.
Writer’s Prediction
PSG and Chelsea cancel each other out in a thrilling 1-1 draw.
