Paris Saint-Germain 1-3

Independent:
PSG 3 Chelsea 1
Javier Pastore delivers late sucker punch to Jose Mourinho's Blues
Sam Wallace

This is the time of the season when Jose Mourinho’s teams are supposed to turn into the kind of cold-eyed trophy-hunters that have brought their famous coach so much success over the years. But after the wobble at Selhurst Park came the calamity in Paris that leaves Chelsea’s season at the crossroads.
Their third consecutive away defeat leaves Mourinho’s team fighting for their Champions League lives and facing a monumental task when the teams meet for the second leg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Suddenly Paris Saint-Germain believe that they are on the brink of a definitive victory for their grand project and turning this tie around will be no simple task.
There have been more dramatic victories in Mourinho’s past and plenty of times when he has rescued a tie in the second leg. There are a few in this current Chelsea team who were in the side that were 3-1 down to Napoli after a first leg in the Champions League two years ago and rescued the tie around on their way to winning the trophy. This time, however, it will be quite some escape against a PSG team capable of causing all sorts of mischief on the counter-attack.
At 2-1 a disappointing performance could have been dismissed by Mourinho with a shrug and the well-worn excuse that his players were still learning. When substitute Javier Pastore dribbled in from the right goalline to make it 3-1 with virtually the last kick of the game, the whole picture changed again, and suddenly Chelsea are on the back foot.
They threw it away. Having fought their way back to level through an Eden Hazard penalty in the first half after Ezequiel Lavezzi’s third minute opener, it felt like Chelsea were in control. But PSG, the new new-money of Europe came out fighting in the second half and, unfazed by the loss of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, scored two goals that change the complexion of the tie significantly.
The warning signs were there in the away tie against Galatasaray in the previous round when Mourinho’s side failed to put away their opposition in Istanbul when the opportunity presented itself. Against that calibre of opposition, they were offered a reprieve but this time there was no let-off. An own goal from David Luiz and then Pastore’s brilliant late strike means that they find themselves with backs against a cold wall.
Give PSG their due, there were outstanding performances from Blaise Matuidi and Lavezzi, but you would hardly say they were at their best. Not with Ibrahimovic so indifferent and Edinson Cavani looking a long way from one of the most expensive strikers in the world.

It would be dangerous to doubt the capability of Mourinho and his players to find a way past PSG, who are yet to reach the semi-finals under their new Qatari owners. But it will be another exhausting task, mentally and physically, to drag themselves into the final four of the competition. As the games stack up in the title race, they will have to draw on all their strength in a squad that is starting to look tired.
There were reports of trouble too, among the Chelsea travelling support who were accused of attacking shops and restaurants in the Saint Denis area of the city before kick-off. It was unclear how many had been involved in the trouble that took place in the afternoon.
Mourinho picked a starting XI without Fernando Torres, Demba Ba or the injured Samuel Eto’o, the second big game of the season he had looked at the strikers available to him and decided that it was a case of none of the above.
Instead he played Andre Schurrle as the lead attacker, as he had done at Old Trafford on August in his first striker-free formation of the season. It was not much of an endorsement for Torres and Ba but then someone was always likely to pay the price for that defeat to Crystal Palace, and he has been threatening to do something like it for a while.
They could not have started any worse, a goal down within three minutes from an elementary piece of bad defending. PSG started brightly and stretched Chelsea all over midfield, working the ball left to Matuidi who put in a good cross into a six-yard area that was largely bereft of PSG attackers. John Terry needed a call from Cesar Azpilicueta to let him know the full-back was better placed to clear the danger but none came.

Instead, not knowing who was behind him, the Chelsea captain felt he was obliged to leap and stretch for a ball that was just out of his comfort zone. He ended up heading it straight to Lavezzi inside the area. The Argentinian took the ball down nicely and with the time and space to hit a shot lifted the ball up and past Cech before the goalkeeper had time to react.
It happened so swiftly that Chelsea had barely had a chance to get themselves into the game, and for a few moments you wondered if PSG might be able to inflict more damage on their opponents. But instead, Mourinho’s team showed their maturity and by the mid-point of the half they had taken control of the game.
Ibrahimovic was a marginalised presence in the first half; he struggled to find any space between Terry and Gary Cahill and David Luiz and Ramires protecting the midfield. Willian had an excellent half and it was his ball from the right that was snapped back into the feet of Oscar that made the space for latter to draw a clumsy tackle from Thiago Silva. The Serbian referee pointed to the penalty spot.
Hazard has scored every penalty that he has taken this season in the absence of Frank Lampard, a substitute on Wednesday night. This one was no different, tucked inside Salvatore Sirigu’s right-post to put Chelsea level. Hazard also hit the post on 40 minutes with a brilliantly executed left-foot volley from a cross from Willian that was by no means simple to connect with, let along keep on target.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was substituted after suffering a hamstring injury
There was a complaint from PSG at the end of the first half when Cahill and Cavani both went to ground and the Uruguayan appealed, half-heartedly it should be said, that the English defender had fallen on top of him and brought him down. Of that attacking three, however, it was Lavezzi who consistently looked the most dangerous.

Ibrahimovic drifted in and out, his best effort before he was substituted a shot that was charged down after Christophe Jallet’s ball had found him in space. Then, around the 65th minute, he had competed hard for a ball in the middle with David Luiz, turned to follow the play up-field and pulled up sharp with what looked like a strain in his left thigh.
By then PSG had retaken the lead, another goal that had Lavezzi at the heart of it and a bad one for Chelsea to give away. It was Luiz who fouled Matuidi out on the left wing to concede a free-kick and the Brazilian who found himself helpless to stop the ball cannoning off his legs and into his own goal after Lavezzi’s free-kick from the left wing had been allowed to travel all the way across the Chelsea area.
Mourinho looked disgusted at the outcome. Earlier, just before the hour he had called upon Torres to replace Schurrle to try to reinvigorate a tiring Chelsea attack. The Spanish striker and Hazard managed to trick and bulldoze their way through PSG on 65 minutes but Hazard could not quite thread a ball through to the Chelsea No 9 for a shot at goal.
Mourinho sent on Lampard with 20 minutes remaining and it was the Englishman who, along with Azpilicueta, found himself trailing in Pastore’s wake when he cut in from the right and scored with virtually the last kick of the game. It did not look good for Petr Cech, who was beaten at his near post. Either way, it will have to be much better at Stamford Bridge.

Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3): Sirigu; Jallet, Alex, Silva, Maxwell; Verratti, Motta, Matuidi; Cavani, Ibrahimovic, Lavezzi
Subs: Moura/Ibrahimovic 68, Cabaye/Verratti 76, Pastore/Lavezzi 82

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Luiz; Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Schurrle.
Subs: Torres/Schurrle 59, Lampard/Oscar 72

Man of the match: Matuidi
Booked: PSG Alex, Cavani Chelsea Ramires, Willian, Luiz
Rating: 6

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Telegraph:

Paris St-German 3 Chelsea 1
By Matt Law, in Paris

What Jose Mourinho would do for just one world-class forward. Paris St-Germain started with three and even the substitute, Javier Pastore, proved he would be an upgrade on anything currently on show for Chelsea.
Blues manager Mourinho feels he has such little firepower available to him that he started with no out-and-out strikers for the first leg of the Champions Leaguequarter-final tie in Paris. Owner Roman Abramovich must be getting the message loud and clear.
Fernando Torres was introduced as a substitute with just over half-an-hour remaining, but Chelsea were still a team playing without a goalscorer.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic could even afford a quiet night. He went off with a second-half injury, but it did not matter as PSG displayed a wealth of forward options that Mourinho can currently only dream about.
Ezequiel Lavezzi terrorised the Chelsea defence, scoring the first goal and forcing David Luiz to put through his own net. Edinson Cavani almost grabbed a stunning third for PSG, before Pastore swerved his way past Frank Lampard, beat John Terry for pace and scored past Petr Cech at his near post.
Chelsea have Eden Hazard’s penalty to cling on to heading into next week’s second leg, but Mourinho does not have a Zlatan, Lavezzi, Cavani or even a Pastore to call on to provide the goals he needs.
Missed chances are becoming the theme of Chelsea’s season and may well prove to be the reason why Mourinho finishes his first year back in England without a trophy.
It’s not just the strikers, either. The second chance offered to Luiz by Mourinho was squandered. The Brazilian was substituted at half-time in the defeat at Crystal Palace, but was given a reprieve, with Nemanja Matic ineligible in the Champions League.
It may have been John Terry who headed straight to the feet of Lavezzi to score PSG’s first goal in just the fourth minute, but it was Luiz who had started the home side’s attack by losing possession.
Luiz then made and scored the second-half own goal that restored PSG’s lead. He unnecessarily brought down Blaise Matuidi on the left and Lavezzi swung in a brilliant set-piece that the Chelsea man bundled into his own net with Cech beaten.
In between his errors, Luiz had grown into the game, picking up Ibrahimovic when he looked for the ball and pressing Marco Verratti into errors and misplaced passes.
But the mistakes for the goals showed again why Mourinho has major misgivings over the reliability of Luiz and would most likely accept a big bid him. PSG are one of the interested clubs and saw both the good and the bad of the 26-year-old.
Samuel Eto’o failed to recover from a hamstring injury in time to travel to Paris, but Mourinho preferred to play without a striker – rather than put his faith in Torres.
Mourinho was clearly unconcerned by the fact Chelsea were beaten 3-0 by Juventus last time they went away in the Champions League without an out-and-out frontman in 2012.
Roberto Di Matteo was sacked in the aftermath of that defeat, but Mourinho will use this loss to convince Abramovich he must spend big to change Chelsea’s strikers – not the manager.
Chelsea got off to the worst possible start by conceding an early goal and seeing Ramires pick up a yellow card that rules him out of the second leg.
But Mourinho’s men were handed a lifeline as Thiago Silva produced a rash challenge on Oscar and referee Milorad Mazic had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Hazard stepped up against the club who will try to sign him in the summer and slotted the coolest of penalties past Salvatore Sirigu to send Mourinho wild in the technical area.
If the spot-kick underlined the desire of the PSG money men to try to snare Hazard, then an outrageous piece of skill from the Belgian will only have reinforced Chelsea’s desire to keep him.
Willian crossed from the right and Hazard produced a superb angled volley that beat Sirigu, but cannoned back off the post.
PSG screamed for a penalty of their own on the stroke of half-time, when Cavani went down under an aerial challenge from Gary Cahill. This time Mazic was unmoved.
Mourinho decided it was time to send on a striker with just over half-an-hour remaining, as Torres replaced Andre Schurrle, who had struggled to try to hold up the ball or offer his team an outlet.
But Luiz gifted PSG the lead again in the 62nd-minute and, this time, Chelsea had no response. When Torres lost the ball during an attempted attack, Mourinho turned away shaking his head.
Luiz was one of three Chelsea players substitute Lucas Moura danced around before trying to set-up Cavani, who could not apply a finish to what would have been a fantastic goal.
Cavani almost scored with a brilliant curling shot, but a third goal came in stoppage time as Pastore wriggled his way in from the right and fired past Cech.
PSG had proved they are more than just a vanity project. Mourinho had proved that Chelsea have one hand tied behind their back when it comes to slugging it out with the best.

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Guardian:

Javier Pastore's killer blow for PSG leaves Chelsea facing uphill task
PSG 3 Chelsea 1
Daniel Taylor

The most encouraging news for Chelsea, at the end of a hugely disappointing night, is that when they set about trying to overturn this deficit at Stamford Bridge next week there will almost certainly be no involvement for the man who likes to think of himself as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, superstar. There is, however, plenty to concern José Mourinho after a game that leaves the champions of Ligue 1 in a clear position of command.
Eden Hazard's first-half penalty at least offers a glimmer of hope but if Chelsea defend this generously again the bottom line is that it will almost certainly be their last match in this season's competition. They have chosen a bad moment of the season to start letting in soft goals and this defeat, on top of what happened at Crystal Palace at the weekend, threatens to have serious repercussions for their entire season.
The damage is still retrievable but it is difficult to be hugely optimistic when Mourinho clearly has so little trust in his strikers, with Fernando Torres increasingly becoming the scapegoat of choice, and especially now John Terry and his colleagues are starting to look unusually flaky. The problem with Torres is not a new one but Chelsea's success this season has been built on a parsimonious defence and once that lapses it highlights their other deficiencies all the more.
Terry was badly at fault as Ezequiel Lavezzi, the game's outstanding player, opened the scoring in the third minute. David Luiz, who had lost the ball in the buildup, inadvertently helped PSG regain the lead and there are two ways to look at what happened in stoppage time when the substitute Javier Pastore completed the scoring. One is that it was a goal of sheer brilliance, as Pastore wriggled clear of César Azpilicueta, then eluded Frank Lampard before letting fly with a low, angled shot. The alternative view is that it felt completely out of keeping with what we know about Chelsea on these nights.
Mourinho, naturally, took the second option, describing it as "ridiculous" and "a joke". His players, he said, had "enjoyed the third goal with Pastore", though it is also true that a goalkeeper of Petr Cech's experience will intensely dislike being beaten at his near post. Cech's part in the second goal will bring more scrutiny, the keeper barely reacting as a free-kick eluded everyone before striking David Luiz in the six-yard area. Defensively, it was rare to see Chelsea make so many individual errors at telling points.
Ibrahimovic suffered a hamstring injury which PSG's president later said would rule him out for two or three weeks but there was still plenty of evidence that the supporting cast are capable of causing difficulties. Lavezzi, in particular, took the game to Chelsea, taking his goal majestically, though it goes without saying Ibrahimovic's absence could be a significant setback for Laurent Blanc's team. One pass in particular to send Lavezzi scampering behind Gary Cahill was a reminder of the Swede's uncommon ability.
Marco Verratti was also forced off before the end but it is not encouraging for Chelsea when Mourinho's analysis involved emphasising the point, not for the first time, about it being "difficult for us to score goals". When the manager talked about not having a "real striker" everyone knew it was a dig at Torres. Chelsea can be encouraged that they overturned a 3-1 first-leg deficit to overcome Napoli 5-4 on aggregate en route to winning the trophy two seasons ago. Yet Mourinho must be alarmed by their sudden vulnerabilities. They will also have to make do without Ramires in the return leg, suspended because of his yellow card for a first-half challenge on Lavezzi, the tormentor-in-chief.
It was a terrible start for Chelsea, who were losing before most of the players had a single grass stain on their kit, and Terry will have to take the blame because of the poor defensive header that presented Lavezzi with the ball inside the penalty area. The Chelsea captain, usually so assured in the air, did not get anything like enough distance on his clearance. Lavezzi controlled the ball on his chest, pulled back his left foot to take aim and his shot was still rising as it arrowed in off the underside of the crossbar.
The equaliser came on 27 minutes after Thiago Silva's sliding tackle had taken down Oscar for the penalty, and Chelsea were marginally the more threatening team for the remainder of the first half, almost taking the lead when Hazard sized up Willian's cross and cracked a left-volley against the far post.

For the most part, however, they did not have the same dynamism as their opponents. That, coupled with defensive lapses, was a bad combination. Lavezzi's free-kick led to David Luiz's own goal just a couple of minutes after Mourinho had accepted that the experiment with André Schürrle up front had not worked and Torres was given the chance to show it was wrong to leave him out. He had barely any impact and the momentum was back with the home side even after Ibrahimovic went down holding the back of his right leg.
It ended with Pastore collecting the ball on the right, beating one man, then another and lashing his shot past Cech. Mourinho immediately started shaking hands with everyone on the PSG bench and shaping up to leave, even before the final whistle. He does this quite often but, in this case, it felt like a man who was disgusted with what he had seen.

==========================

Times:
Javier Pastore’s finishing touch completes bad night for Chelsea

Paris Saint-Germain 3 Chelsea 1
Oliver Kay Chief Football Correspondent

In the space of a few seconds, a difficult evening for Chelsea became a chastening one. José Mourinho called it “a joke” that Javier Pastore scored in the manner that he did, but his Chelsea side had been flirting with danger all night. They had only themselves to blame.
As a compelling encounter entered stoppage time, Chelsea were left hanging on unconvincingly: 2-1 down but not quite out in Paris. Mourinho snorted in derision at what happened next, as Pastore waltzed around two challenges and beat Petr Cech at his near post, but Paris Saint-Germain deserved the third goal that established them as clear favourites to progress to the semi-finals, with the second leg at Stamford Bridge to come on Tuesday.
Mourinho lamented his team’s defensive errors — a poor header from John Terry for PSG’s first goal, an own goal from David Luiz for the second, the ease with which César Azpilicueta, Frank Lampard and Cech were beaten for the third — and, of course, he wailed about how awful centre forwards are.
He is right, of course, even if Chelsea’s front-line options looked weaker last summer by the time he sent Romelu Lukaku on loan to Everton, but the Mourinho interpretation of the night — of an excellent “strategic” performance undermined by individual errors beyond his control — was only partly accurate. It was, after all, a night on which his team showed far too little of the intensity and focus that they demonstrated in their masterful win away to Manchester City in February.
Since then, Chelsea have won one, drawn two and lost four of their seven away games in all competitions. Defensive errors and the absence of a reliable goalscorer are two very obvious factors in that, but anyone looking at their performances in recent away games against West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and now PSG would also cite a lack of intensity and a paucity of real adventure.
PSG showed far greater quality in the final third, as you would expect of a side containing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani, against a team with André Schürrle as a makeshift striker, but perhaps the biggest difference was in midfield. Luiz and Ramires established control in midfield for a period in the first half, after a rocky start, but th ey had none of the nous, energy and verve of Thiago Motta, Blaise Matuidi and Marco Verratti.
Chelsea could hardly have got off to a worse start. It was as if they had come stumbling on to the pitch, bleary-eyed and still out of sorts after the defeat at Selhurst Park on Saturday. They looked off the pace in those first few minutes as PSG passed the ball around Luiz and Ramires with alarming ease. On the rare occasions that Chelsea managed to gain possession, it was frittered away.
A good team will always expect to punish such sloppiness. Sure enough, only two minutes and 53 seconds had passed when PSG took the lead.
It was no surprise that it stemmed from their left flank, where Matudi joined Maxwell in trying to swamp Branislav Ivanovic. From Maxwell’s cross, Terry, at full stretch, could only head the ball towards the penalty spot, where Lavezzi controlled it on his chest and adjusted his body to strike a lovely left-footed shot into the roof of Cech’s net.
At that point, you feared for Chelsea. Struggling to find any composure whatsoever, they were repeatedly second to the ball in midfield, with Ramires paying a price when he was booked in the twelfth minute for a lunge on Lavezzi, meaning that he will miss the second leg.
PSG had all the momentum, but just as quickly, they lost it, allowing Chelsea to take a foothold in the game. Motta, Matuidi and Verratti all seemed to drop a gear and, with that, Chelsea were able to build some rhythm of their own, tentatively at first, through Oscar and Eden Hazard.
The equaliser, in the 26th minute, came after Ibrahimovic conceded possession. There seemed little danger when Willian cut the ball back from the right-hand side towards Oscar near the edge of the penalty area, but Thiago Silva’s challenge was rash. Oscar’s fall was theatrical, but it was a clear penalty, converted by Hazard, as coolly as you would expect.
Little had been seen of Hazard to that point, but his threat is ever-present. Five minutes before half-time he was picked out by Willian’s cross. The angle looked difficult, but Hazard hit a sweet volley that bounced back off the foot of a post.
Three minutes later, from Ibrahimovic’s header, Gary Cahill slipped in the Chelsea penalty area, causing Cavani to lose his footing. No penalty, Milorad Mazic, the referee, ruled.
Mourinho abandoned the Schürrle experiment on the hour. The Germany forward has many qualities, but he is no centre forward. The problem is that, in Mourinho’s eyes, neither is Fernando Torres or Demba Ba these days. Oh for a Lukaku to bring off the bench!
Torres was guilty of failing to hold up the ball when it first came his way, but the real blame for PSG’s second goal lay with Luiz. It was excusable that, in a crowded six-yard box, he inadvertently turned Lavezzi’s menacing free kick into his own goal. His real mistake was in conceding the free kick so needlessly in the first place.
By now, a third PSG goal looked more likely than a second for Chelsea. They lost Ibrahimovic and Verratti to injury and Lavezzi to exhaustion, but their replacements — Lucas Moura, Yohan Cabaye and Pastore — had enough ability to keep the pressure building.
Cavani, though not at his best, remained a real threat, feinting inside Cahill’s challenge and striking a dangerous shot just wide in the final minutes. Chelsea were clinging on — happy, it seemed, at 2-1 — but they were punished for one final lapse as Pastore dribbled away from Azpilicueta and Lampard to beat Cech at the near post. It was as if the roof had fallen in on Chelsea. It is a long way back from 3-1.

======================

Mail:

PSG 3-1 Chelsea: Nightmare for Jose as Luiz own goal and Pastore stunner leave Blues facing uphill task to qualify

By Martin Samuel

Jose Mourinho sprang to his feet, marched over to the celebrating bench of Paris Saint-Germain and shook hands. It was one of those dramatic gestures to which he is partial, but few would disagree with the sentiment.
In all likelihood, Javier Pastore, a 24-year-old Argentinian squad player, kept on the sidelines here by PSG’s stellar cast of attacking talent, had put Chelsea out of the Champions League.
There is another game to come in this quarter-final, and Chelsea need only a 2-0 win at home to progress — but that target presumes PSG do not score, an assumption few will be making after this.
They may be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who limped out here with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, and Edinson Cavani was not at his best either, but ultimately it made little difference. Ezequiel Lavezzi, PSG’s star performer, was a double handful and just when Chelsea thought they had escaped with a flesh wound, Pastore arrived to inflict an injury from which it will be hard to recover.
It was a quite wonderful goal, aided by some quite woeful defending. Pastore, hassling away in the right corner, won the ball, turned and beat Frank Lampard, Cesar Azpilicueta, the recovering Lampard again, and finally Petr Cech at his near post. The goalkeeper should have done better, so should Chelsea in the tackle, but credit to Pastore, who had little room but knew the best route to the target. To have a player of his class coming off the bench is a luxury indeed.
And yet, would PSG have got back into the game were it not for the catastrophic intervention of David Luiz after 62 minutes? Chelsea did not play badly, probably shaded the first half and at that time were, if not comfortable, then growing in confidence. Fernando Torres had just replaced Andre Schurrle, the false nine, and Mourinho was looking to go for the goal that would place Chelsea in charge and heading back to Stamford Bridge with a smile.
Then Luiz suffered what is gently described as one of his lapses of concentration. Required to shepherd to safety a PSG move going nowhere fast in the corner, he clumsily gave away a free-kick. It was unnecessary, inviting danger where there had been none, and what happened next revealed the folly of his action and changed the game.
Lavezzi whipped the ball in low, it eluded Ibrahimovic, plus Cech, and dropped into the path of Luiz, who could only run it into his own net. In his defence, the foul was a greater crime than the own goal. 
It was a brilliant strike by Lavezzi, asking more questions of Chelsea’s back line the nearer it got to the target, and Luiz was merely the hapless stooge.
The foul, though, was foolish. Chelsea had done so well to keep it tight against PSG’s magical front-line. They had contained Ibrahimovic and Cavani, and only Lavezzi had truly troubled them all night. It was a soft way to lose and while progress is not unthinkable, a single PSG goal will leave Chelsea needing four to make certain of qualifying. And PSG are no Arsenal. 
The French champions are a relatively new force in this competition and these occasions still draw something from the fans and the players. The crowd even cheer the Champions League anthem, while the players came out of the traps with purpose and went a goal up after four minutes.
Blaise Matuidi struck a cross from the left which John Terry repelled with a soft header. That would not have made a huge difference had there been a second line of defence to mop up, or had Paris’s forwards not read the move.
Sensing little pace on the cross, they dropped off, knowing any defensive header would not travel far. It left Lavezzi in Position A for when the ball flopped at his feet. He attacked it and smashed his shot into the roof of the net.
It was the worst start imaginable for Chelsea, considering Mourinho had made the decision to play here without a recognised striker, Schurrle taking the place that should have gone to Torres, left to consider his options for an hour on the bench.
It was a brave, if conservative, move by Mourinho - the last use of Schurrle in the false nine role being the match at Manchester United near the start of the season that produced an interminable goalless draw delighting only insomniacs and Roy Hodgson. Yet, in his last three games, Torres has not been responsible for a shot at goal. He has been every bit the false nine, whatever is on his shirt.
When Ramires was booked trying to stop Lavezzi escaping after 12 minutes, putting him out of the return leg, it looked as if it could be a long night for Chelsea. Yet they rallied and dominated the remainder of the first half.
Chances were hardly plentiful but the equaliser came after 27 minutes, the result of ordinary defending Mourinho must hope is a portent of next week’s tie.
Ultimately, whatever the second leg holds, this could be Chelsea’s most significant match of the  season. The need for a prolific goalscorer is all-consuming. PSG simply looked more threatening, even if their front pair were kept quiet.
But could the two goals that are being laid at Cech’s feet - the second and third — signal the return from loan of 21-year-old Thibaut Courtois? The Belgium keeper is rated as the best for his age in the world and is chasing La Liga and Champions League glory with Atletico Madrid. Might this be the match that convinces Mourinho he deserves his chance?
Changes will be made from here, without doubt. The manager can say what he likes about the youth and readiness of his side, but he will not have

PSG: Sirigu 6, Jallet 6.5, Alex 6.5, Thiago Silva 6, Maxwell 6.5, Verratti 6 (Cabaye 76), Thiago Motta 6.5, Matuidi 6.5, Cavani 7, Ibrahimovic 6 (Lucas Moura 68), Lavezzi 8 (Pastore 84).
Subs not used: Douchez, Marquinhos, Digne, Rabiot.
Booked: Alex, Thiago Motta, Cavani.
Goals: Lavezzi 4, Luiz 62 og, Pastore 90.

Chelsea: Cech 5.5, Ivanovic 6, Cahill 6, Terry 6, Azpilicueta 6, Ramires 6, Luiz 6.5, Willian 6.5, Oscar 6 (Lampard 72), Hazard 7, Schurrle 5 (Torres 59).
Subs not used: Schwarzer, Mikel, Ba, Ake, Kalas.
Booked: Ramires, Willian, Luiz.
Goal: Hazard 27 pen.

Attendance: 48,000
Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia)
*Player ratings by SAMI MOKBEL

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Mirror:

PSG 3-1 Chelsea: Javier Pastore's late strike leaves Chelsea facing uphill struggle in Champions League
 
By Martin Lipton
 
The Blues go into next week's second leg needing to win by at least two goals after shipping in three at the Parc de Princes

One by one, the Chelsea old guard are tumbling.
The men who built the winning machine now losing their edge.
Even the return of the "Special One" has not halted the progress of time, the one opponent nobody can beat.
And in the Parc des Princes last night, at the moment Jose Mourinho was shaking hands and settling for a narrow defeat, Chelsea found themselves staring Champions League oblivion in the face.
This was a chastening evening for three of the cornerstones of the Blues for their triumphant decade, a "joke" over which nobody was laughing.
For John Terry, his second major, costly blunder in five days, following his own goal at Selhurst Park by gift-wrapping Ezequiel Lavezzi's early opener.
For Frank Lampard, a 100th Champions League appearance but only as a late replacement, another signal that his contribution is waning.
And for Petr Cech, the symbol of that glorious May night in the Allianz Arena two years ago, two shockers, errors that might indeed mean Chelsea end the season empty handed.
With Chelsea looking as if Eden Hazard's first half penalty, earned when Oscar made the most of a reckless lunge by home skipper Thiago Silva he needed that mask to hide his embarrassment would give them the psychological advantage, Cech made his first mistake.
A keeper of his experience has to ensure he claims a ball directed through the six yard box, even if the delivery from Lavezzi was terrific.
Instead, Cech only half-advanced, getting nowhere near the ball which dropped against David Luiz' shin and bounced, apologetically, over the line.
It was tough on Luiz, who had driven Chelsea back into the game, even after Ramires picked up the booking that rules him out of the second leg.
Chelsea needed the Brazilian, too, after their nightmare start.
When the impressive Blaide Matuidi crossed from the left, Lavezzi backed off, sensing that Terry might get it wrong, cashing in on the weak header by smashing in off the bar.
Even so, Chelsea showed some courage and while the Luiz own goal had handed PSG the lead again, they still had that Hazard penalty, calmly stroked home, to store away in hand luggage.
It might have been even better, Willian, whose pace down the right had helped induce the poor challenge by Thiago Silva, dinking out another great ball that Hazard smashed against the upright.
With Gary Cahill outstanding at the back, Chelsea appeared to have withstood all that PSG, for whom Zlatan Ibrahimovic was surprisingly ineffective even before he went off with a hamstring injury that is set to make him an absentee next Tuesday.
Edinson Cavani was a whisker wide when, for perhaps the first time all game but a worrying portent for Sao Paulo in June he got the better of Cahill.
Even so, Chelsea appeared to have done enough. Mourinho certainly thought so, striding across to the other technical area to shake the hands of Laurent Blanc and his coaching staff.
But then, disaster, debacle, everything changed.
Substitute Javier Pastore should never have been allowed to ease his way past Lampard and Terry and work his way into the box.
Even so, a keeper of Cech's experience and cannot allow himself to be beaten at the near post from that angle or distance.
Of course, it is, as Mourinho insisted "not over".
Back in 2012, remember, they clawed their way back from a 3-1 first leg deficit against a Napoli side including Lavezzi and Cavani, with the club still reeling from the shock of Andre Villas-Boas' forced exit.
Under Mourinho, while he, too, seems to have isolated and turned against Ashley Cole, it is a happier ship, certainly as far as the fans are concerned.
But this, far more than Crystal Palace or any of those other Premier League defeats, felt like a defining night for many of those under Mourinho's command. PSG are a better side than Napoli.
It seems that the changes this summer will have to be bigger than he envisaged. And even some of the mainstays, some of his favourites, may discover they have finally been beaten by the ultimate opponent.

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Express:

Paris Saint-Germain 3 - Chelsea 1: Jose Mourinho draws a Blanc with Blues tactics

WHEN the ball hit the back of the Chelsea net for the third time, Jose Mourinho turned on his heels, strode across to give Laurent Blanc a bear hug and marched off down the tunnel.
By: Tony Banks

He had seen enough. His tactical plan to stifle Paris Saint-Germain had come so close to working. But in this competition, close is never enough.
For once in his illustrious career, the normally impeccable Petr Cech had an off night.
Two of the goals could be put down to the Czech goalkeeper, though Javier Pastore’s injury-time goal to make it 3-1 after he had beaten three men with a mazy dribble, was brilliant.
But it still beat Cech at his near post, and it is that crucial strike that gives Blanc’s team the edge in this tie. Chelsea have come back from two goals behind in Europe before, memorably when they crashed 3-1 at Napoli in the last 16 in 2012. That defeat effectively spelled the end for Andre Villas-Boas as manager.
By the time the teams met again a fortnight later at Stamford Bridge, Roberto Di Matteo was in charge and the Blues stormed to a famous 4-1 win, going on to lift the trophy.
A fightback of a similar stature is now required on Tuesday and there was enough in this thrilling match to give Mourinho hope for the second leg of this quarter-final.
After getting off to the worst possible start when Ezequiel Lavezzi scored after just four minutes, Chelsea recovered well and caused PSG plenty of problems on the counter-attack. But the big question is whether there are enough goals in this Chelsea team to achieve such a turnaround. A side that have struggled in front of goal, whose strikers have been publicly doubted by their manager, have a mighty task ahead of them.
Afterwards, Mourinho savaged the individual mistakes which cost his team so dearly, and denied that in going over to Blanc and his staff and shaking their hands he had conceded defeat. But his body language told a different story.
Mourinho, attempting to reach his eighth semi-final in the competition, had boldly left Fernando Torres on the bench, playing without a recognised centre forward – German winger Andre Schurrle the lone frontman. It was not the first time the Portuguese had gone without a striker this season. Chelsea did so in a goalless draw at Manchester United in the league.
This time, the tactic backfired – although only just.
The supposed clash of the egos between Mourinho and PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, never materialised. Ibrahimovic has scored 40 goals this season, 10 in the Champions League, but he was largely anonymous last night and replaced with more than 20 minutes remaining. It was others who did the damage.
He did have a minor role in the first goal, however. David Luiz lost the ball in midfield to Ibrahimovic, who worked it wide to Blaise Matuidi. His cross was headed out poorly by John Terry straight to Argentinian Lavezzi, who controlled the ball and smashed his shot in off the bar.
But Chelsea did not panic, did not lose their shape. They kept probing on the break and when Willian pulled the ball back, Oscar was tripped by Thiago Silva for an obvious penalty. Eden Hazard coolly converted for his 17th goal of the season.
Chelsea then assumed control. And when Willian’s cross from the right fell to Hazard, the Belgian cracked in a glorious volley that came back off the far post. Lavezzi, who scored two goals for Napoli on that evening in 2012, had been the danger man for the French all night and came back to haunt them again. Luiz had another moment of madness, giving away a free kick on the left, and when Lavezzi swung the ball in, it evaded everyone, including Cech, and bounced into the net off the unfortunate Luiz.
Chelsea were still dangerous on the break – and Hazard almost played in Torres, who had come on for Schurrle, after an electric run. But PSG had their tails up, and Edinson Cavani’s shot seared an inch past the post.
A 2-1 defeat with an away goal would have been far from a disaster for Chelsea. But substitute Pastore, who had replaced compatriot Lavezzi, had other ideas. He appeared to be hemmed in at the byline on the right but incredibly wriggled clear of three challenges before firing past Cech.
Mourinho keeps saying this team are not ready and the honours will come next year. They can prove him wrong on Tuesday.

PSG (4-3-3): Sirigu; Jallet, Alex, Thiago Silva, Maxwell; Verratti (Cabaye 76), Thiago Motta, Matuidi; Cavani, Ibrahimovic (Moura 68), Lavezzi (Pastore 84). Booked: Alex, Cavani, Thiago Motta. Goals: Lavezzi 4, Luiz 62 og, Pastore 90.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Luiz; Willian, Oscar (Lampard 72), Hazard; Schurrle (Torres 59). Booked: Ramires, Willian, Luiz. Goal: Hazard 27 pen.
Referee: M Mazic (Serbia).

NEXT UP: Chelsea – Sat: Stoke (h) league.

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Star:

Paris Saint-Germain 3 - Chelsea 1: Late Pastore strike leaves Blues on brink of Euro exit
PARIS in the spring proved painful for Jose Mourinho and Chelsea last night.

By David Woods

Just like on their travels in England, the Blues have not found the change in season to their suiting.
Despite battling back from going behind to a sloppy goal in the fourth minute, the west Londoners conceded two poor second half goals to give themselves a huge hurdle to overcome at home in five days.
This Champions League quarter-final defeat makes it three away setbacks in a row, following the 1-0 defeats at Aston Villa and, more shockingly, Crystal Palace on Saturday.
At least they did claim a goal, a penalty by Eden Hazard in the 27th minute.
But they were on the back foot for most of the second half and were gutted to see Argentine substitute Javier Pastore score a third with what was virtually the last kick of the match.
It was a night of real Argie-bargie for Stamford Bridge outfit with Ezequiel Lavezzi grabbing the first, forcing David Luiz to turn into his own net for the second, and countryman Pastore claiming that crucial third.
Making his 100th Champions League appearance for the Blues, keeper Petr Cech ought to have done better for the second and third goals. It was a rare night of uncertainty for him.
With all the talk of super-strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani, it was perhaps forgotten PSG have a third exciting hitman in Lavezzi.
He cost a paltry £25m from Napoli two summers ago, but last night it was a case of all things being Ezequiel!
His opener and wicked 61st-minute free-kick - turned into his own net by Luiz - revved up PSG to go all out for that third, which they got when Pastore evaded John Terry and Gary Cahill to shoot past Cech at his near post.
The keeper would surely have saved comfortbaly on one of his good days.
Maybe for all their efforts to contain superstar giants Ibrahimovic and Cavani, the Blues took their eye off 5ft 8ins Lavezzi.
Terry certainly did in presenting him with the chance early on.
Laurent Blanc’s runaway leaders in France started with real intent to test Chelsea and it paid off.
A cross by Blaise Matuidi on the left was headed out by a backtracking Terry.
His direction was poor and Lavezzi was able to control on his chest and lash a half-volley inside Cech’s right post.
Ramires was booked in the 12th minute for chopping down Lavezzi, meaning he misses the second leg.
The Blues were level after the masked Thiago Silva caught Oscar late in the box and, despite howls of protests, Serbian ref Milorad Mazic awarded a penalty.
Hazard - a major target of the mega-rich French outfit - kept his cool, sending his kick low to the right of Salvatore Sirigu.
Mourinho allowed himself a low punch with his right fist and after embracing team-mates Belgium ace Hazard rushed to the touchline to hug substitute Demba Ba.
Hazard was almost celebrating again in the 40th minute when William diagonal cross was met by the Chelsea No.17.
His left-foot volley was technically superb, angling across Sirigu and clipping the inside of the keeper’s far post.
Having started with no recognised striker and Andre Schurrle as a false nine, Chelsea gave PSG a bit to think about before the break.
But after, they had little attacking threat, with, not surprisingly, Fernando Torres - who came on in the 60th minute - making no impact as it became a damage limitation exercise.
Straight after Torres’ introduction Lavezzi’s free-kick from the left evaded everyone, including a dithering Cech, and bounced off Luiz for an own goal.
In the 69th minute Ibrahimovic went off. He had not had one of his best night and nor did Cavani.
But just when you expected the 2012 winners of this competition to hold out, they were punished by Pastore.
Mourinho needs to work one of his miracles on Tuesday if Chelsea are to progress.
But they have done it without him before in that glory season, beating Cavani and Lavezzi’s Napoli 4-1 after losing 3-1 in Italy.