PSG 2-2 (aet)

Independent:
Thiago Silva's extra-time bullet header dumps Chelsea out of Europe despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic red

Chelsea 2 PSG 2 (aet. 3-3 on aggregate - PSG through on away goals)

Sam Wallace

It would have been a remarkable performance from the French side in any circumstances, but to play 90 minutes of this game without their star and chief goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, erroneously sent off, made this a benchmark night in the history of the PSG. Twice they came from behind, eventually to win the tie on away goals in extra-time and for most of that you would scarcely have believed that they only had ten men on the pitch.
Later Mourinho would admit that his team froze under the pressure of trying to win a game from a position that looked unassailable while PSG revelled in the freedom of their task. Chelsea were not at their best, far from it, and there were worrying signs for their manager in a season when his side were supposed to have matured into a team capable of winning this competition.
That said, their goals from Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard’s penalty should have been enough. Yet they failed in a discipline which they usually handle with ease, conceding both goals from headers from corners from David Luiz and then Thiago Silva. That said it was a stupendous effort from PSG, and at the end even Chelsea seemed to accept that.
Mourinho will ask why Costa did not get a first half penalty. Laurent Blanc, however, deserves an explanation for Ibrahimovic’s red card. It was a swine of a decision for the referee Bjorn Kuipers to have to make, a blur of a tackle between the great Swede and Chelsea’s Oscar, but Kuipers got it wrong and so a great cup tie, was turned on its head.
What no-one was expecting from that moment was the great PSG performance that ensued. They might have been mistaken for a team of mercenaries in the past, but this time Blanc’s side were superb.
In the aftermath of the Ibrahimovic clash with Oscar, there were eight Chelsea players around the referee Kuipers and he got his red card out his pocket with the haste of a man over-eager to pay the bill; so much so that he bodged the dramatic reveal-and-flourish.
The dismissal of Ibrahimovic was another one of those human dramas that makes the modern game so intriguing and so frustrating. This was a match played on the tightest of margins. So tight that a moment’s delay of a sensible pass would guarantee its interception, one in which the smallest gap or delay represented a significant opening for one of the two teams.
In other words, there was an extremely high-level of competence, if not goalscoring chances, and then the referee Kuipers intervened. It was already a hard game to referee before he made that monumental decision, a game in which there was a good chance that he could be deceived by the sheer pace at which it was played.
As Oscar and Ibrahimovic went for the ball it was the Brazilian’s leading leg, his right, that was fully extended and his studs up. Ibrahimovic had folded his legs to a greater degree and contact was made right leg to right leg around the ankle area. The reaction of Oscar - hand over face, protestations of agony - seemed to influence the referee. By contrast, Ibrahimovic, propped himself up on one knee and looked composed.
At that point, Kuipers was surrounded by some Chelsea players telling him what to do and others signalling for the stretcher with the urgency of bystanders summoning an ambulance. Kuipers emerged from that pack of blue shirts with his red card already in his hand.
Until then PSG had tried to take the game to Chelsea, while Chelsea had got themselves in the right position to control their opponents and attacked on the break. Neither had created a chance worthy of note but pressure points had started to develop, not least with David Luiz, back in the centre of defence, whose fraying temper was made worse by the red card.
Four minutes before half-time he caught his fellow Brazilian Diego Costa with an elbow off the ball and the Spain international dropped to the floor without Kuipers seeing a thing. The friction between the two had begun much earlier and later Costa had offered the hand of friendship although this collision signalled the end of that.
And then, when Kuipers must have been wondering whether it could get any worse for him, it did. On 43 minutes, Costa went on a brilliant run – part dribble, part stumble and ricochet – that took him into the box and towards a shooting position. Having beaten Edinson Cavani, the Urguayan clearly thrust out a leg and tripped Costa, but no penalty was given.
In spite of that, it was a tie that, at half-time, was made for Mourinho’s team to win. He changed Willian for Oscar with the former on a booking. PSG were depleted and missing their star player and yet they were superb in the second half.
It was, quite simply, a heroic effort from the French side. At the heart of it was Marco Verratti probing with passes from midfield where Nemanja Matic, back in the team after his domestic suspension, and Fabregas, were quiet. Not only Verratti, but Javier Pastore was impressive too and between them they created the chance of the game for Cavani.
He should have scored, especially when he made such a good job of deceiving Thibaut Courtois and dribbling around the goalkeeper. From the left side, his shot struck the inside of the near post and bounced across the goal and out for a goal-kick – a strange bit of geometry. It was a great opportunity and Blanc’s frustration on the touchline said a lot.
Nevertheless, PSG kept trying to break Chelsea down. Having failed to exact revenge on Luiz, Costa sought out Maxwell for a bad late tackle and was booked. Not wishing to be excluded, Luiz intervened and was booked as well.
Then came the breakthrough for Chelsea. They had barely created a chance before Ramires had a shot saved at the near post by Salvatore Sirigu and from the ensuing corner, PSG made a mess of the clearance and from Costa’s scuffed shot it fell to Cahill to lash in from a few yards.
Blanc made changes immediately, bringing on Ezequiel Lavezzi and Adrien Rabiot and within minutes PSG were level. Pastore’s skill and chip forced the corner and Luiz was unmarked when he headed the ball firmly past Courtois.
By this time, with all the attendant aggravation, there was not a thought given by Luiz to curtailing the celebration at his former club, and quite right too. Into extra-time the game went. Mourinho replaced Ramires with Didier Drogba and he took Costa’s place as the centre-forward, with Costa moved to the right.
The second Chelsea goal was a personal disaster for Thiago Silva who inexplicably extended a hand in a challenge with the substitute Kurt Zouma and touched the ball. This time, there were no protests. Eden Hazard dispatched the penalty. In the final minutes of the game, Courtois saved brilliantly from Thiago Silva’s header from a corner. Then the next one came over and this time Silva found the space to beat Courtois and win an extraordinary cup tie on away goals.

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Guardian:

Chelsea out after Thiago Silva sends 10-man PSG through on away goals
Daniel Taylor
Chelsea 2-2 Paris Saint-Germain (aet, agg: 3-3, PSG win on away goals)

It was a wild, draining night and for a long time before that dramatic finale, when the Paris Saint-Germain players still had the energy to party and Diego Costa looked like he wanted to fight anyone who got in his way, it had threatened to be a personal ordeal for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Instead, it was a show of competitive courage from Laurent Blanc’s team. A lot will be said of Chelsea’s shortcomings but this also seemed like the night the French champions announced their arrival on the highest stage.
What an introduction it was, too, bearing in mind Ibrahimovic’s red card meant they had to play all but the first 31 minutes with 10 men. Twice, they found themselves behind, seemingly on their way out, and on both occasions they absolutely refused to let their lack of numbers debilitate them. Thiago Silva’s decisive header looped over Thibaut Courtois with six minutes to go in the second period of extra time. David Luiz, outstanding against his former club, had taken the game into the additional half-hour with another headed goal four minutes from the end of normal time and the fact both came direct from corners seemed to sum up the unusual nature of Chelsea’s performance.
It was a stodgy, weary display from Mourinho’s team with only sporadic moments when they threatened Salvatore Sirigu’s goal and their manager seemed bewildered afterwards when he tried to explain what had gone wrong. Mourinho was entitled to think his team should have had a first-half penalty when Edinson Cavani tripped Costa. Yet those complaints were undermined by the nature of Ibrahimovic’s sending-off. Chelsea were given a debatable penalty for Eden Hazard to make it 2-1 in the first period of extra-time and it was another night of repeat offending from Costa. Mourinho, in fairness, focused on his team’s shortcomings rather than any misplaced sense of injustice and even called for Uefa to let Ibrahimovic off. He did, however, follow that up by saying David Luiz should be suspended instead for elbowing Costa.
As always, there were a bundle of different side issues. The bigger point, however, is that Chelsea should have been capable of controlling the tie once Ibrahimovic was removed from the game. Hazard’s penalty, after the ball had taken the merest of flicks off Silva’s hand, had looked like putting Chelsea into the quarter-finals for the seventh time in nine years. Then again, it had been tempting to think the same after Gary Cahill opened the scoring in the 81st minute. Their opponents simply refused to give up. Other teams might have wilted. Yet this was a fit team, as well as one playing with self-belief, and the defensive errors at the end, with John Terry losing Silva for the killer goal, suggested it was Chelsea rather than their opponents who were tiring.
Blanc could also reflect afterwards on the moment, after 57 minutes, when Thiago Motta’s pass sent Cavani running clear; the Uruguayan went around Courtois, only for his shot to clip the inside of one post then flash past the other.
The corner for Silva’s goal came about after Courtois had saved another header from the same player. Again, it was from a cross into the penalty area, with plenty of defenders around. When was the last time Chelsea were so vulnerable from the corner spot?
Ibrahimovic’s challenge on Oscar was clumsy and mistimed – and a player of his size, leaping in at full speed, is asking for trouble – but he did turn his leg away when he realised he was too late to connect with the ball. His studs were not showing and PSG’s players clearly thought was the reaction of Oscar’s team-mates that influenced the Dutch referee, Bjorn Kuipers. Terry and César Azpilicueta led the outrage while Cesc Fàbregas went from demanding a red card to consoling Ibrahimovic within a matter of seconds. Nine Chelsea players were in close proximity to the referee and the PSG players, in turn, remonstrated with their opponents for taking the protests too far. That set the tone for the night, with Costa and David Luiz prominently involved in the different flash points.
Until that point, it had been a strangely subdued game, with both teams using the opening half an hour to size one another up. Hazard had looked determined to lift the quality but it needed the sending-off to spark the game into life.
It is rare to see Chelsea so susceptible defensively. Yet they also lacked penetration in attack, despite Hazard’s menace. Blanc had switched Cavani to a more central role after the red card and the forward excelled in place of Ibrahimovic. Oscar was substituted at half-time. Fàbregas is having a lapse in form and Costa seems so preoccupied with alpha-male aggro it possibly distracts him from the rather more important task of beating the opposition goalkeeper.
It was Costa’s miscued shot, after Terry had knocked down a half-cleared corner, that gave Cahill the chance to open the scoring. Yet Mourinho talked afterwards about a team that “could not handle the pressure”. David Luiz seemed inspired by that pressure. His header for the equaliser was the type that could be prefixed with the word “bullet”. Silva’s was a measured effort, weighted perfectly to drop beyond Courtois, and Mourinho did not hide from the truth. Chelsea, he said, deserved to be beaten.

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Telegraph:

Chelsea 2 PSG 2
Thiago Silva's extra-time header puts 10-man visitors through on away goals

Henry Winter

Chelsea went out of the Champions League in extraordinary fashion in extra time and few outside Stamford Bridge will mourn their departure. Instead, there will just be huge admiration for the way Paris Saint-Germain reached the quarter-finals after responding valiantly to Bjorn Kuipers’ nonsensical 31st-minute dismissal of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a decision taken when surrounded and hounded by Chelsea players.
This was a bad night for Chelsea, whose antics were embarrassing at times, although PSG were hardly angels. Yet Laurent Blanc’s side were bolder and hungrier, their 10 men fuelled by a sense of injustice and helped by Chelsea’s ill-judged caution. Chelsea played with the handbrake on, and were ultimately and deservedly overtaken by the more ambitious PSG.

Jose Mourinho is rightly acknowledged as one of the great managers of the modern era, a master tactician who knows how to set his team up to maximum effect, but his conservative nature cost Chelsea here.
He talked of a psychological pressure on his players yet they had the extra man; even though his defenders froze at key moments, Mourinho must also take responsibility for not going for PSG’s exposed jugular when Ibrahimovic was sent off.
As the final whistle confirmed PSG’s place in the quarter-finals, Laurent Blanc, his back-room staff and substitutes poured jubilantly on to the pitch.
This was particularly special for Blanc, who shook so much with joy that his glasses almost came off. The dignified Frenchman has been frequently criticised, slated as a coach who lacks the nous of the stellar technical area beasts like Jose Mourinho, but he outwitted the Chelsea man here.
It was a precious feeling for David Luiz too. One of the most engaging characters was booed by Chelsea fans on his return to the Bridge, his detractors clearly forgetting that he converted their first successful penalty in their 2012 Champions League triumph.
Luiz scored a powerful header after 86 minutes, equalising Gary Cahill’s goal of five minutes earlier to force extra time.
Luiz was such a popular individual back-stage at the Bridge during his three years here that he was hugged by two of the Chelsea ground-staff as he celebrated on the pitch. His post-match interviews, brimming with respect for Chelsea, even apologising for revealing emotion when scoring, highlighted his class.
Yet even Luiz was culpable of a heinous act in one of the feistiest games of the season, having swung an elbow into the face of Diego Costa, an offence missed by Kuipers.
Costa was also denied a clear penalty when tripped by Edinson Cavani, another incident missed by Kuipers. Within seconds of full-time, Costa was marching menacingly across the field, trying to get at Yohan Cabaye, and needing to be led away by a steward.
Nearby, Thiago Silva was celebrating in unrestrained fashion.
When his team needed him most in extra time, their captain initially erred, handling the ball and gifting Eden Hazard the chance to put Chelsea ahead from the spot.
But Thiago Silva responded superbly, testing Thibaut Courtois with one header and then beating him with a header of power and placement to give the visitors the edge on away goals, sending Chelsea crashing out.
With Arsenal and Manchester City facing hugely difficult away legs next week, the Premier League involvement could be coming to a humiliating close in the round of 16.
The Premier League might be a global phenomenon, attracting huge television audiences addicted to its thrills and spills, but it lacks the chess-like cerebral qualities required too often in Europe.
While the English prepare to conduct a painful inquest, and then throw themselves back into the frenzy of the domestic game, Uefa and Fifa must surely see that video technology is required to help their officials.
Ibrahimovic’s sending-off was patently unfair.
When Ibrahimovic slid in to contest a 50-50 with Oscar, the Swede actually tried to pull out of the tackle. Oscar continued, his right foot catching Ibrahimovic, whose momentum sent the Brazilian spinning around on the pitch.
A simple replay would have shown Kuipers what had occurred. He was given no help by the assistant referee or the additional assistant referee, Michel Platini’s glorified mascot behind the goal.
It was impossible to escape the suspicion that Kuipers was influenced by the Chelsea players swarming around him. John Terry won the race to be first to complain and soon a nine-strong Blues chorus line chanting for retribution. Cesc Fabregas joined Hazard and Ramires to one side of Kuipers. Cahill was at the back, in the bass section.
Terry was conducting the protests in front of Kuipers. Costa was on the other side of the referee, with the very vocal Cesar Azpilicueta and Nemanja Matic. Branislav Ivanovic was slightly late to join the barracking brigade. The only Chelsea players not involved in the manic serenading of Kuipers were Courtois and the prostrate Oscar.
As nine angry men made their point, Kuipers duly punished Ibrahimovic.
Jeremy Clarkson was the most famous suspended person at the Bridge until Ibrahimovic departed. Ibrahimovic rarely enjoys much luck against English defences, barring a brief purple patch against Arsenal and shredding England in Stockholm, but the Swede did not deserve the walk of shame. 
As he reached the tunnel, Chelsea supporters chanted “w-----” at him and “f--- PSG”. Welcome to the Bridge of slurs.
It was all so ugly, so out of keeping with the efforts that Chelsea and their supporters had made to be welcoming after a few of their travelling number had shamed the club with their racist behaviour in Paris.
The fans in the Matthew Harding Lower even held up a flag proclaiming “equality” before the match. It will take some time before relations improve between these two clubs.
Justice prevailed with PSG progressing. Their 10 hungry men went for glory. PSG were depleted in numbers but not spirit. Edinson Cavani rounded Courtois, but sent his shot against the post.
Chelsea shook themselves into action. Ramires was thwarted by Salvatore Sirigu. With 10 minutes remaining, Chelsea broke through. Luiz and Terry went for a high ball which dropped to Costa, whose fly-kick fell sweetly for Cahill. The England centre-half thundered the ball home.
Blanc reacted, sending on Ezequiel Lavezzi for Marco Verratti.
Within five minutes, Lavezzi was swinging in a corner that Luiz just wanted more than everyone else, the Brazilian climbing high to power a header past Courtois. PSG celebrated wildly, and understandably so as they had refused to be daunted by losing Ibrahimovic.
Mourinho finally became more assertive, sending on Didier Drogba for Ramires. Within six minutes, the extra impetus paid off. With Drogba a forward focus, Costa suddenly peeled left and lifted the ball in.
Thiago Silva leapt up with Kurt Zouma, stretching his hand up towards the ball, crazily for such an experienced defender. Kuipers pointed to the spot. Hazard placed the ball down, turned and coolly stroked the penalty past Sirigu.
Courtois saved brilliantly from Silva but then could do nothing with six minutes left when the Brazilian attacked another set-piece, heading PSG deservedly into the quarter-finals.

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Mail:

Chelsea 2-2 PSG (AET, agg 3-3): David Luiz and Thiago Silva power headers past Jose Mourinho's side to knock them out after Zlatan Ibrahimovic sees red in cynical clash at Stamford Bridge

By Martin Samuel

Thibaut Courtois wanted to come, changed his mind and back-pedalled. By then it was too late. Thiago Silva’s header was looping over his head and Chelsea were heading out of the Champions League. Deservedly, too.
Paris Saint-Germain were the better side here, played the best football, overcame the odds. That blend of class and cussedness reminded one of Chelsea, at their best. They were nowhere near that level on Wednesday night, though.
They had the game won, twice. Firstly, in the 81st minute when Gary Cahill gave them a scarcely deserved lead, then six minutes into extra time when Eden Hazard restored it from the penalty spot. Both times, PSG came back — and with 10 men, too. They had as much possession as Chelsea despite having played with a numerical disadvantage for 90 of the 120 minutes. Takes some doing, that.
There will be the usual inquest but for a moment shouldn’t we just praise PSG? Shorn of Zlatan Ibrahimovic after 30 minutes, they were quite magnificent in the second half and showed enormous resolve throughout.
It was an ugly game, and both teams share responsibility for that, but PSG had more ambition and scored the goal of the night, through David Luiz, which sent the tie into extra time.
As Chelsea fans will recall from that night in Munich, Luiz knows how to celebrate and he savoured every moment of this away-goals victory.
Despite the £50million transfer fee his departure from Chelsea still feels like rejection, so this was revenge. If not on the club, then perhaps on Diego Costa, who fought him every step off the way — some of it picked up by the cameras, much of it not.
There was clearly ill-feeling over the dismissal of Ibrahimovic, too, PSG convinced that Chelsea’s players — led by John Terry — had a huge influence over referee Bjorn Kuipers.
Their reaction to his tackle on Oscar was as extreme as the challenge itself — high, late and pretty nasty — and Kuipers had the red card out, while surrounded by blue. Thiago Motta was then booked for pointing this out
It made for a spiteful game, always bubbling on the brink of eruption. For Chelsea, Hazard was the sole shining light, with too many of his team-mates happy to engage on every other level bar creation. Not that PSG were blameless, or faultless — but they were better.
They could have won it in normal time had Edinson Cavani taken an opportunity in the 58th minute, and Chelsea looked tired and often mediocre by comparison.
Courtois made the save of the night from Thiago Silva in extra time but it only set up the corner from which the Brazilian scored the fateful second.
Until that moment, it looked as if Chelsea would go through against the run of play. They took the lead in extra time through a mystifying stroke of luck. Thiago Silva challenged for a high ball, inexplicably with a hand raised as if tipping it over the bar.
Hazard stepped up, waited for goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu to move and slipped the ball past him, cool as you like. That is five penalties in eight Champions League games for Chelsea. The team that can’t buy one at home can’t stop scoring them in Europe.
That should have been it, except Chelsea are having increasing problems closing out games. Mind you, PSG are an attacking force to be respected. They never gave up and, in Luiz, had a talismanic figure almost possessed in his intensity.
They’ve seen a few good headed goals in their time at Stamford Bridge, yet even by the standards of Jimmy Greaves, Peter Osgood, Kerry Dixon and lately Didier Drogba and John Terry, Luiz’s equaliser was something special.
It was the sheer pace that did it. Luiz lost Branislav Ivanovic with his run, yes, but it still needed converting and not even Courtois in Chelsea’s goal was ready for the power that was delivered, from mid-air. He barely moved, and certainly didn’t have time to dive. It hit the net like a long-range shot, dragging Chelsea into extra time.
Yet PSG were unlucky not to win in 90 minutes and had a 58th minute chance for Edinson Cavani gone in who knows what could have happened. A Chelsea forward move broke down and Marco Verratti broke downfield.
He fed the ball to Cavani who had burst through with Cahill caught surprisingly unaware. He charged toward Courtois, rounded him, and with the goal now empty shaped to shoot.
Yes, the angle was tight, but this is one of the world’s finest forward players. He would be expected to score from there but hit the near post.
Agonisingly, the ball spun off and across the face of goal, preciously close to the goal-line. Back down the field, PSG players fell to the ground in frustration. Quite why, who knows? There was enough of that going on as it was.
Sometimes it was justified — Costa absolutely cleaned out Silva after 72 minutes — on other occasions, not. This was a bad- tempered match, the polar opposite of Tuesday’s meeting of Real Madrid and Schalke.
Jose Mourinho would no doubt sneer and call 4-3 a hockey score. Yet for all the wealth and excellence on display, some will sneer at this, too. Not until Ramires forced a save from Sirigu in the 79th minute did Chelsea have a chance worthy of recall. From that corner, they scored.
It was a poor clearance, headed back across goal by John Terry. Costa had a swipe, missed and the ball skewed to Cahill. He shot through a crowd of players and, with nine minutes to go, Stamford Bridge thought the job was done.
It should have been. With Ibrahimovic out of the way it was advantage Chelsea. True, the striker was getting very little here, but still lost his cool quite spectacularly.
It was a 50-50 with Oscar and the ball was there to be won. The Brazilian arrived first, however, and Ibrahimovic hit him, hard. A rotten tackle but a sending off? Maybe just short. Probably a booking and a three-quarters if such a thing existed, on the grounds that it looked more ill-timed than ill-intended.
Chelsea’s players were in no mood for clemency, though, and sprinted as a collective to Kuipers which made the tackle look 10 times worse. From there, both sides were spoiling for a fight.
In the aftermath, tackles and challenges grew in intensity and one should have resulted in a Chelsea penalty when Cavani tripped Costa. One can only imagine Kuipers had no view of the tackle through a crowd of players.
There was so much happening, on and off the ball, that keeping track of it all was a thankless task. Luiz looked to have elbowed Costa on the blind side in the first half and, if so, was lucky to stay on. There may have been previous, however, with Luiz felled earlier and claiming foul play. The Brazilian had the last laugh, though, and one imagines wasn’t too proud to let that show.

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Mirror:

Chelsea 2-2 PSG (3-3 aet): Blues crash out of Champions League on away goals after Thiago Silva late header

Dave Kidd

Stifled by caution and outplayed by ten men, Chelsea slunk out of the Champions League with their tails between their legs.
Paris St Germain lost talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic to an early red card then proceeded to dominate the Premier League leaders.
Dramatic late equalisers from David Luiz in normal time and Thiago Silva in extra-time earned Laurent Blanc’s men a win they richly deserved.
In truth, English clubs have been given pretty thorough schoolings in four matches out of four in this last-16 stage.
The wealthiest league in the world will end up without a representative in the quarter-finals unless Arsenal or Manchester City can pull of a miracle away from home next week.
Chelsea may have led through a Gary Cahill strike and a fortuitous Eden Hazard penalty but they simply failed to cope with the prospect of defending an away goal against ten impassioned men from Paris.
The pre-match trash talking had been feisty – Mourinho accusing the French of playing like lower-league cloggers, Laurent Blanc singling out Diego Costa as Chelsea’s chief provocateur.
And there was plenty of snap in PSG’s early challenges – Javier Pastore winding Costa with a swing into the midriff and Thiago Motta landing a late one on Nemanja Matic.
The indiscipline which Mourinho had highlighted cost Paris dearly on 32 minutes.
For a hulking 6ft 4in galactico, Ibrahimovic had gone virtually unnoticed until then but the Alpha male seized the centre of attention with a wild, late, two-footed challenge on Oscar.
The respective sizes of the two men didn’t help Zlatan – a sledgehammer to crack a nut – and Oscar certainly gave it the triple salchow routine, while John Terry led an enraged Chelsea reaction.
But it looked a clear modern-day red card and referee Bjorn Kuipers obliged.
For a while it seemed the visitors had completely lost the plot – Thiago Motta was booked in a secondary flare-up after Zlatan’s walk of shame.
Then Luiz floored Costa with an off-the-ball elbow which Kuipers missed – and the Dutch ref did Chelsea no favours by failing to award an open-and-shut penalty case when Cavani shoved over Costa, after a slaloming run into the box.
It was threatening to turn into the sort of match Chelsea used to have with Leeds back in the early 70s – with the ball an optional extra. Chopper Harris would have been scenting blood in his nostrils and looking to dig out his dubbin.
Mourinho was repeatedly reminding his players to keep their heads and not along Kuipers the opportunity to even things up.
Oscar was hauled off at half-time to be replaced by Willian – who almost immediately produced first serious effort on goal, with a cunning free-kick which almost caught keeper Salvatore Sirigu completely off-guard.
Edinson Cavani was in bull-in-china-shop mode and when Pastore slipped him through with a pass that left the Chelsea defence flat-footed, the Uruguayan rounded Thibaut Courtois and struck the near post with a shot from a narrow angle.
Chelsea were caught in no man’s land, not needing to score, simply to see out time against ten men – and their lack of attacking motivation was threatening to be their undoing.
The ten men seemed to be outnumbering the eleven as Blanc’s men attacked in waves, Pastore’s shot squirming out of Courtois’ grasp, Chelsea defending desperately.
Costa was lucky to escape a red himself for a horrible late lunge on Thiago Silva.
But Cahill looked to have secured Chelsea’s place in the last eight when he drilled home ten minutes from time after Terry had beaten Luiz in a scramble after a corner.
Luiz, though, is a proper limelight-hogger and his moment arrived just five minutes later when he beat Ivanovic to corner and thundered a header off the underside of the bar.
But five minutes into extra-time, Silva raised his arm as he challenged Kurt Zouma from a Cesc Fabregas but did not seem to make contact. Kuipers pointed to the spot and Hazard rolled it home.
Courtois made one outstanding save from Silva but from the resulting corner, the Brazilian defender leapt to score with a dipping header to send the visiting bench into rapture and Chelsea crashing out.

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Express:
Chelsea 2 - Paris Saint-Germain 2 AET (agg 3-3): Silva and Luiz send PSG through
Tony Banks

The Brazilian was never a dull figure at Stamford Bridge. Ridiculed by some pundits for his risk taking, a cult hero for the fans for his hairstyle and humour.
Sold for £40 million last summer he came back to haunt his old team as his headed goal took this epic last 16 tie into extra time.
It was Thiago Silva’s goal six minutes from the end that settled this bad tempered, epic last 16 tie and sent ten man Paris St Germain into the quarter finals. But it was Luiz who was at the centre of everything Silva’s daft extra time hand ball had given Chelsea the lead through Eden Hazard’s penalty. But then his glorious looping header was the moment that left Chelsea devastated.
It was though no more than Luarent Blanc’s team deserved. PSG had played like heroes for more than an hour after key man Zlatan Ibrahimovic was harshly sent off by referee Bjorn Kuipers.
They should have scored when Edinson Cavani missed a sitter, fell behind when Gary Cahill scored, but never gave in as Luiz, inevitably, had his moment.
Chelsea looked to have done had done what they do under Jose Mourinho. Won the game. But Laurent Blanc’s classy side simply refused to give up. They kept going - a minute before his crucial goal Silva had seen another header brilliantly stopped by Thibaut Courtois. Seconds later he tried again - and PSG are in the quarter finals after a truly epic performance.
For Mourinho and Chelsea the title is now everything.
A year ago Blanc had felt the agony of going out in the quarter finals at Stamford Bridge thanks to an 87th minute Demba Ba goal, after his team had led 3-1 from the home leg. The word was that PSG’s Qatari impatient owners might well pull the trigger on Blanc if he failed again. But this was sweet revenge for the former France coach.
Mourinho as ever stirred the pot before kick off as he named PSG as the dirtiest side his team have faced all season, after Eden Hazard was fouled nine times in the first leg. Blanc in turn warned his team to watch for Chelsea and Diego Costa in particular’s dirty tricks. Anglo-French accord there was not.
But the tackles flew from the start - Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas both flattened early on. Then Luiz ended up on the deck.
But then Zlatan slid in late on Oscar leaving the Brazilian in a heap - and Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers instantly waved the red card. It looked very harsh indeed on the Swede, whose studs were not raised, and who had tried to pull out. But he was late.
But the French side picked themselves up and got on with it. Only a brilliant covering header from Terry denied Edinson Cavani. But then Costa weaved his mazy way through several tackles and was felled in the area - but for once Kuipers waved play on, to Chelsea’s fury. Then Chelsea had their second major stroke of good fortune. Thiago Motta put Cavani clean through, and the Uruguayan went round Thibaut Courtois - but with the goal gaping, drove his shot against the post.
But ten man PSG simply kept coming.
Costa was booked for a terrible tackle on Thiago Silva that could easily have been a red, and a squaring up to Luiz brought a yellow for both. Tempers were fraying all over the pitch and tackles flying. Kuipers had definitely not helped matters with that early, rash red card.
But then the breakthrough. Willian’s corner was not cleared by the PSG defence. Costa miscued, but Gary Cahill was there eight yards out to crash in a right footed volley.
Then Courtois was in the right place to stop Ezequiel Lavezzi’s header, and Pastore’s chip. But then from the corner Luiz met the ball with a thumping header that gave the Belgian no chance. It had had to be him.
Extra time should have seen Chelsea, with a man extra, home - especially when Hazard coolly rolled in the spot kick. But this Chelsea side are not yet adept at closing out games, and Silva punished them. This one will hurt.

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Star:

Chelsea 2 PSG 2 (3-3 AET): Hosts left feeling blue as French side shine at the Bridge
Chelsea's Euro dreams are over for another season

Despite having a one-man advantage for an hour-and-a-half against PSG, they lost their heads while the Laurent Blanc’s side kept theirs.
Literally, in the case of ex-Blues star David Luiz and skipper Thiago Silva.
For it was the centre-back duo who nodded home powerfully from corners in the 86th and 114th minute to take the Paris outfit into the last eight.
Chelsea’s big problem last night was they, and PSG were guilty of this too, seemed more intent on settling scores, than scoring goals.
Jeremy Clarkson should have felt right at home as the Top Gear star watched this foul-fest.
Clarkson has been suspended from his BBC ‘Top Gear’ show for allegedly punching a producer in a row over catering. Much of what was served up, particularly from Chelsea, was not tasty.
They were poor, as poor as they have been all season, seeming not to know how to alter their ‘catch-them-on-the-break’ masterplan following the dismissal of superstar striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 31st minute.
You would never have guessed the Blues had a man advantage as they got caught up in the nonsense that was going on all over the pitch.
They did go ahead thanks to a Gary Cahill goal in the 81st minute, which had a lot of luck about it, then Eden Hazard scored from the spot in the 96th to make it 2-1.
The penalty was awarded after Thiago Silva flapped at a high ball in the box, but he was to make amends.
Luiz took the game into extra-time with his header, although he perhaps should not have been on the pitch, having appeared to elbow Costa in the 40th minute.
That incident was one of so many nasty flashpoints, with Mourinho and Blanc’s battlers seeming to have overdosed on testosterone.
But only Ibrahimovic joined ‘Jezza’ on the banned list. In truth, the striker was unlucky to go for a challenge on Oscar. Replays indicated Chelsea’s Brazilian had gone in just as hard, and higher.
Ibrahimovic joined Edgar Davids as the player sent off the most times in the Champions League, with both now on four.
But another Dutchman, referee Bjorn Kuipers, may well be asking himself today how much he was influenced by the furious reaction of Mourinho’s men.
Many, skipper John Terry in particular, howled and screamed theatrically in protest and Kuipers, at one point, found NINE blue shirts around him before he brought out the red card.
The fouls and the flare-ups started early, Silva going in from behind on Costa in the fourth minute.
It was to set the trend for the night with players’ reactions often worthy of the name of the Chelsea No.8 - as in deserving an Oscar!
Mourinho and Co will have their claims of being treated unfairly, Costa hammering the ground after Kuipers refused to award a penalty after he tumbled in the box following a first-half challenge from Edinson Cavani.
It was Cavani who had the first real chance of the game, going clean through in the 57th minute, but shooting against the near post.
Cahill blasted home a half-volley after Costa’s complete mishit spun to him. But that man Luiz thumped in a header from a corner to make the scores dead level. In extra-time Hazard stroked home a penalty after Silva’s mad moment, when jumping with Kurt Zouma.
Luiz forced Courtois into a superb save with a brilliant free-kick and the Belgium star also kept out Silva’s header, after a corner from the right, with a superb flying save.
But from the resulting corner on the other side the Brazil skipper jumped highest again to plant a header over Courtois and into the net.
On a brutal night for football, you could say the result was a Silva lining for the game.
Chelsea can now concentrate on the league, and wonder about why they got so caught up in being macho men.