PSG 1-2

Guardian:

PSG and Zlatan Ibrahimovic send laboured Chelsea crashing out

Chelsea 1 - 2 PSG


Daniel Taylor at Stamford Bridge


By the end, it was a sobering reminder for Chelsea that when it comes to the hierarchy of European football there is no longer a place for them at the top table. They might have unfathomable riches, fierce ambitions and some high reputations, but so do teams such as Paris Saint-Germain and, for a second successive season, the French champions had the personnel to reach the quarter-finals to a celebratory chorus of La Marseillaise from the away end.

Laurent Blanc’s team still look short, perhaps, of the smooth excellence regularly witnessed by the crowds at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and, on their good days, Real Madrid, but they were still a good degree superior to Chelsea and, in the process, it was another fine night to be Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In this fixture last year the Swede was sent off after 31 minutes. He looked affronted by the memory, laying on PSG’s opening goal for Adrien Rabiot and effectively killing the tie with the close‑range volley that made it 4-2 on aggregate and meant Chelsea needed to score three times in little more than 20 minutes.

It used to be said that Ibrahimovic never played well against English opposition but he made sure of showing his better qualities here. Ángel Di María was not far behind in the list of outstanding performers, no matter the mistake that led to Diego Costa making it 1-1, and the 2012 winners must have left the pitch knowing it might be a long way back to the top. Tenth in the Premier League, Guus Hiddink talked about “lost terrain” and admitted it might be some time before their next European tie.

Chelsea put in a spirited effort and will reflect on the attack, a minute or so before Ibrahimovic’s goal, when Kevin Trapp made two saves in quick succession to keep out Willian and Eden Hazard. Ultimately, however, Chelsea’s leading players did not rise to the occasion and they lost their defensive structure, as they have so many times this season. Costa, the one player PSG could not handle, had to come off after an hour and Hazard was also injured. As he came to the touchline there were some boos for the 2014-15 double player of the year after another peripheral performance.


Chelsea thus could not keep up their fine record of saving themselves in this kind of assignment, having gone through eight times in the previous 13 ties when they have lost the first match. It is coming up for five years since they last played a home match in this competition without scoring and if we are being generous, perhaps it might have been a different conclusion if Costa had remained on the pitch.

Hiddink talked of them being “too respectful” in the opening part of the game and having lost 2-1 in Paris three weeks ago, the first telling blow came after 16 minutes. Di María had quickly made it clear he was determined to have a prominent role and it was his pass that sent Ibrahimovic clear on the right. Kenedy, Chelsea’s young left-back, had deserted his post. Branislav Ivanovic did not follow Ibrahimovic’s run and these small lapses had considerable ramifications. Ibrahimovic slid the ball across the six-yard box and the Swede’s expression was one of joy even before Rabiot applied the final touch at the far post. Ibrahimovic knew the pass had been weighted beautifully.

With a 3-1 aggregate lead, PSG promptly threatened to make it a stress-free night, knocking the ball around with the confidence that might be expected of a team who have turned Ligue 1 into a procession. Costa, however, was focused and forceful from the start. He has seldom looked better since last season’s opening months at the club and in the middle part of the game there were glimpses of the stubborn streak that has been the hallmark of the more productive Chelsea teams.


After 27 minutes, Di María had a sudden and unexpected wave of his old Manchester United form, dithering in the centre of the pitch and allowing Pedro to dispossess him. The Spaniard is hardly a tenacious tackler but his desire to win the ball maybe surprised his opponent. Willian was running in support, breaking with pace, and PSG were vulnerable straight away. Costa took the ball in a central position, turned inside Thiago Silva with great determination and aimed a low shot beyond the oncoming Trapp.

Unfortunately for Chelsea, Costa’s exertions finished with him aggravating the tendon problem that kept him out of the game against Stoke last weekend and that was a significant setback given the problems he was creating for PSG’s all-Brazilian defence. Bertrand Traoré bounded on, offering youthful energy, but he did not have Costa’s simmering presence and Chelsea missed their leading scorer.

The game was still open at that stage but midway through the second half Di María reminded everyone of his penetrative qualities with some brilliantly effective wide play. Thiago Motta’s pass was expertly delivered in the buildup and the Argentinian, operating for the most part in an elusive central role, had peeled away on the left. Ibrahimovic was anticipating the cross and he was delivered just what he wanted and where he wanted it. The volley flashed into the roof of the net and it would have been an incredible feat of escapology to spare Chelsea from that position.



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Telegraph:


Chelsea 1 PSG 2

Zlatan Ibrahimovic simply too good

Jason Burt, chief football correspondent, Stamford Bridge


How do you improve on perfection? You do it again. Zlatan Ibrahimovic walked the walk after talking the talk as his goal, and his clever assist, dumped Chelsea out of the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain emphatically progressing to the quarter-finals.

PSG won home and away in this tie, with the same 2-1 score-line, a 4-2 aggregate, but their supremacy was far greater on this night, exposing a gulf between them and the faded force of Chelsea. A gulf that is widening.

There will be no Champions League football next season at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea will not qualify, and it looks a long, long way back for them right now. The reality of that is about to dawn on Roman Abramovich.

Afterwards caretaker manager Guus Hiddink talked of a club once again in “transition” – a biennial occurrence it seems at Chelsea – and there will be speculation over comings and goings with Eden Hazard doing little to endear himself to the supporters.

The Belgian is regarded by Chelsea as the club’s “jewel” but that lustre has faded. He was poor here – again – and was booed by some fans as he substituted in the second-half with a hip injury but he also seemed to have little stomach for this fight by then. His body language spoke of someone who wants out. There was further anger as it emerged he had swapped shirts with PSG’s Angel Di Maria – back to his brilliant best after his terrible season at Manchester United (an indictment of the club more than him perhaps) – at half-time.

As PSG ran through their changes, bringing on the likes of Edinson Cavani and Javier Pastore, Hiddink could only turn to the raw young striker Bertrand Traore to lead his attack as Diego Costa’s half-fit body gave up on him around the hour mark after he had admirably given everything. Chelsea face an extensive, expensive re-build it seems.


Costa – along with Willian – had been Chelsea’s hope as he appeared a man possessed, obsessed almost, by the desire to win this tie, riled as he was by PSG’s ‘fraud’ jibe, even though he was nowhere near fit. There were wounds and wounded pride all around this stadium. Behind the substitutes sat the injured captain John Terry witnessing what might well be his last Champions League night.

It will not be Ibrahimovic’s. Aged 34 the striker is, he declared pre-match, only warming up. He is playing better than ever, he added. And his relationship with English football has been “perfect” since the day he put four goals past the England national team, four years ago, when playing for Sweden. That put them in their place. And so he did it to Chelsea also.

Ibrahimovic is in the final two months of his PSG contract and has dangled the possibility that he might quite like a dalliance with the Premier League although such is his form – he has 42 goals for club and country this season – and his status that the French champions are obviously considering a new deal.


This was some reminder to them of his worth and some revenge, also, even if Ibrahimovic said he was not seeking redress, having been harshly sent off in the tie between the two clubs at the same stage of this competition last season. It was not just about him. PSG’s midfield were formidable – Adrien Rabiot, Blaise Matiudi and, above all, Thiago Motta. They coped without Marco Verratti.

It appeared a team on a different level to Chelsea who can now only look with regret as to how far they have fallen from when they were regarded as one of Europe’s heavyweights; a tough, fierce team who the others want to avoid. Chelsea have gone out of Europe at this stage of the competition before but rarely as limply, rarely with as little drama. Once Costa went then so did their fight.

Costa had ripped off his mask – to protect his broken nose - for this one and it seemed a symbolic moment. Neither PSG centre-half – David Luiz or Thiago Silva – appeared able to cope with Costa and his goal was taken with exhilarating aplomb. It came as Pedro quickly harried Motta in midfield and he worked the ball forward with Willian for Costa to turn sharply on the edge of the penalty area, buy space ahead of Silva, and stroke the ball beyond goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.

Unfortunately for Chelsea they were already behind by then. Hiddink had gambled with the young Brazilian Kenedy at left-back and it back-fired as he was naively caught out of position, Hazard failed to provide cover and Ibrahimovic smartly arced a run in behind to collect Di Maria’s disguised pass and cross low for Rabiot to bundle home as Cesar Azpilicueta reacted too late.


Before that and Trapp had repelled a Costa shot and Branislav Ivanovic had slid in to clear Di Maria’s goal-bound effort. Chelsea, once level, continued to press PSG who nevertheless dominated possession.

Then came the pivotal moments. Costa went off and Trapp made a fine double-save to deny Willian and Hazard before PSG struck with a wonderful precise pass from Motta, first-time and in behind Azpilicueta, for the relentless Di Maria to run on and slide a low pass which was met by the onrushing Ibrahimovic who crashed the ball high into the net.

It was his 50th Champions League; his 100th PSG goal. For him, it was perfection yet again. For Chelsea it was over. Yet again.



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Independent:


Zlatan Ibrahimovic sinks Blues' Champions League quarter-finals hopes

Chelsea 1 Paris Saint-Germain 2 (aggregate: 2-4)

Mark Ogden Chief Football Correspondent


Zlatan Ibrahimovic signalled the end of the road for Chelsea with a Champions League masterclass at Stamford Bridge last night, when injuries to Diego Costa and Eden Hazard threatened to have ramifications beyond this one-sided tie.

Ibrahimovic, the 34-year-old forward who may yet be tempted to come to the Premier League this summer, created the opener for Adrien Rabiot and the scored the decisive second as Paris Saint-Germain eliminated Chelsea at the last 16 stage for a second successive season.

But while the Swede was majestic, Chelsea’s star players were scythed down  by injury, with Costa and Hazard limping off in the second half, seemingly now doubtful for the FA Cup sixth-round tie at Everton on Saturday.

Defeat at Goodison Park, following this ultimately comprehensive 4-2 aggregate loss, would bring the curtain down on Chelsea’s season with two months left to run ahead of major rebuilding work this summer.

Since defeating Chelsea at Parc des Princes three weeks ago, PSG have suffered what, for them at least, has been something of a wobble, with Laurent Blanc’s team going into this second leg having collected just one point from their last two league games.

Blanc did not field his strongest XI in the defeat at Lyons or the home draw against Montpellier, but nonetheless, any failure to win for successive games in Ligue 1 is as close to a form slump as PSG have endured for quite some time.

They remain 23 points clear at the top table, however, and that cushion enabled Blanc to rest his key players in preparation for the trip to Stamford Bridge. His counterpart, Guus Hiddink, enjoyed no such luxury and was again forced to do without his injured captain, John Terry, for a game which required all of Chelsea’s leading lights to shine if they were to have any hope of overturning their first-leg deficit.


The Premier League champions certainly began brightly, with Costa forcing the first save of the game from Kevin Trapp on three minutes when his drag-back on the edge of the PSG penalty area preceded a left-foot shot from 20 yards.

It was an early example of Costa’s desire to make a difference, with the former Atletico Madrid forward clearly determined to leave his mark on this tie for the right reasons.

But while Costa looked sharp – he ditched his face mask after nine minutes as if to prove his readiness to lead the fight – PSG’s front three of Ibrahimovic, Angel Di Maria and Lucas Moura were like wasps buzzing around the Chelsea penalty area and their movement and understanding were a threat from the off.

Moura, who rejected a lucrative offer from Manchester United in the summer of 2012 to sign for PSG, was allowed to run across the Chelsea  18-yard box before teeing up Di Maria for a clear chance early on, but the winger’s right-foot shot was blocked on the line by Branislav Ivanovic.


Di Maria then saw a left-foot effort blocked by Gary Cahill before top-quality play between the Argentine and Ibrahimovic opened up the Chelsea rearguard to enable Rabiot to score the opener on 16 minutes.

It was a sublime pass by Di Maria to Ibrahimovic, but the Swede was given too much room by the dozing Cahill and he was able to run into space before delivering a perfect ball for Rabiot to guide home at the far post.

PSG may have it easy at times in their domestic league, but Rabiot’s goal was proof enough that Blanc’s team still possess world-class quality. It was a deserved opener for PSG, whose control of possession was impressive against Chelsea’s more frantic approach, but the home side were able to draw level on 27 minutes, when Costa scored following careless play by Di Maria in the centre of the pitch.

The Argentine, still the British record signing following his disastrous £59.7m move to United last season, was dispossessed by Pedro before the ball dropped to Willian. Spotting Costa’s run, Willian released the forward, who turned Thiago Silva before scoring with a low strike past Trapp.

Costa was a constant menace and the Spain forward almost created a second in first-half stoppage time when his shot was fumbled by Trapp, only for Pedro to fail to convert the loose ball.

Despite claiming a foothold in the tie, largely through Costa’s efforts, the threat of a PSG away goal hung heavy over Chelsea at the start of the second half.

Hiddink’s men needed a second, but another PSG goal would leave Chelsea having to score a further three times and the French champions cleverly turned the screw on the home team by retaining possession and attempting to strike on the break.

Rabiot was at the heart of the visitors’ game plan, with the languid midfielder effortlessly spraying the ball around from the centre of the pitch with incredible economy and accuracy. Chelsea struggled to land a blow, with Willian’s energy their best outlet, but Hiddink’s team lacked the snap and crackle of PSG.

And Chelsea’s hopes of clawing themselves back into the tie were dealt a blow on the hour when Costa, appearing to have pulled a calf muscle, limped off to be replaced by Bertrand Traoré.

Without their talisman, Chelsea now faced an even more difficult challenge than when they started.

PSG began toying with Chelsea, waiting to land the killer blow, and it was delivered on 66 minutes when Ibrahimovic scored his 50th European goal.

Thiago Motta’s pass out wide to Di Maria instigated the move, but the winger’s cross was powerful and precise, leaving Ibrahimovic to guide the ball home from six yards.

The old man of PSG switched off the lights for Chelsea, who appeared a very old and ordinary team against the rising force from Paris.ndependent:


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Mail:


Chelsea 1-2 PSG (agg 2-4):

Woeful Blues crash out as Zlatan Ibrahimovic books PSG's place in Champions League last-eight
PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot opened the scoring for the visitors in the 16th minute at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea striker Diego Costa levelled the scoreline on the night with a driven finish past goalkeeper Kevin Trapp
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has been linked with a summer move to the Premier League, sealed the match for PSG
PSG have joined Real Madrid, Wolfsburg and Benfica in the quarter-finals of this season's Champions League


By MARTIN SAMUEL FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Chelsea’s season now hinges on an FA Cup tie at Everton on Saturday. Actually, scrap that. Chelsea’s season now is an FA Cup tie at Everton on Saturday.
Lose that, and it is over. Done with a quarter of the domestic campaign remaining. Lose that, and one of the joys of next season will be lost, too. European competition.

This result means Chelsea will not compete in the next edition of the Champions League, and even Europa League qualification hangs by a thread. Basically, they will need to win the FA Cup. Equally, they will need to be better than this.


Chelsea matched Paris Saint- Germain for energy in the first half, but lost their way in the second. A calf injury to Diego Costa which took him out of the game after 60 minutes was a blow, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s winner seven minutes later finished them.
Ultimately, they were not in PSG’s class over two legs. Needing to win 1-0 here they were not, for a solitary second, ahead and trailed twice.

While PSG’s stellar names — Ibrahimovic, Angel di Maria — rose to the occasion, Chelsea’s disappointed, as they have done for much of the season. Cesc Fabregas was anonymous and at times simply overwhelmed, Pedro was loose and if Eden Hazard was hoping to play his way into PSG’s thoughts he might need to say it with flowers. He limped off here after 77 minutes to a smattering of boos from Chelsea followers who were beginning to recall the first six months of the season.

If Chelsea could chuck it then, as champions, heaven knows what will happen if Saturday does bring the curtain down on the competitive campaign. These do not look like players much concerned with playing for pride. If they were, they would not be in this mess.

The folly of those wilderness months is now becoming very real for Guus Hiddink’s side, with three down and one to go, and to be beaten soundly home and away in this competition will have been another sobering experience. In 2012, a Chelsea team who finished sixth in the Premier League somehow rallied to pull off an unlikely Champions League triumph, but there was scant prospect of a repeat here. Chelsea may have started playing in the second half of this season but they fell very short on Wednesday night.

They were behind after 16 minutes, level, then finished off with 23 minutes remaining — Ibrahimovic’s goal leaving them needing three more in normal time.

Ibrahimovic is being touted around English clubs, and some may be tempted after this. Plainly, he is looking for a final payday in Europe at 34, but even in his twilight years he remains quite the handful. He made the first goal, and scored the second — even if Di Maria’s cross was so perfect that, from a bath chair in his dotage 40 years from now, a striker of Ibrahimovic’s class could probably have nailed it.

Di Maria’s poor year at Manchester United looks an even greater mystery after this performance. He was excellent, in a way that his Chelsea equivalents simply were not. A big player seizing a big occasion. Chelsea have not done that against top-class European opposition for a while.
For the winner, played in by Thiago Motta, Di Maria’s left-side cross for Ibrahimovic was perfection, the striker converting from four yards without needing to break stride. He celebrated in front of the boisterous PSG end as if the match was over, which it was. Stamford Bridge fell silent, and a little resentful. By the end, the march for the exits was evident. They had seen enough.


The game played out at half-pace, a contrast to the vibrant first half. Indeed, if the opening 45 minutes had got any faster they would have needed to test it for the stuff Maria Sharapova was on.
So much for continental sides being intimidated by the pace of the Premier League. PSG set off like rockets and dared Chelsea to chase them. Eventually, Chelsea did. And so the game evolved at breakneck pace, both teams covering over 50 kilometres of turf before half-time, much of it at a sprint.

There was little time to think, let alone pick out a pass, and some of the tackling was furious.

European ties used to be slow-burning chess-like encounters, cagey and cautious at the start, as players probed for an opening. Now, it is hammer and tongs. There is so much skill on display, such cavalier concern for defensive solidity, that risks are taken from the kick-off.
David Luiz is a classic example of the modern defender, frequently given to a gamble around his penalty area, and in the third minute he passed straight to John Mikel Obi trying to play out from the back.

He found Willian, who picked out Costa with a point to prove. Foolishly taunted as a fraud by PSG’s Twitter team — they doubted his need for a protective mask — he played like a man on a mission. His first shot of the game forced a save from goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
To be fair, PSG had a point — Costa’s mask was soon discarded — but whether winding up the opposition striker is a wise move is another matter. It was Costa’s equaliser that got Chelsea back in the game, after PSG had dominated.


MATCH FACTS

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Courtois 6; Azpilicueta 6.5, Ivanovic 6.5, Cahill 6.5, Kenedy 7.5; Mikel 6.5, Fabregas 7; Pedro 6.5, Willian 7.5, Hazard 7 (Oscar 77mins, 6); Costa 7.5 (Traore 60, 6)
Subs not used: Begovic, Baba, Remy, Matic, Loftus-Cheek
Goal: Costa 27
Booked: Fabregas, Mikel, Ivanovic

PSG (4-3-3): Trapp 7; Marquinhos 6.5, Thiago Silva 6.5, Luiz 6.5, Maxwell 6.5; Rabiot 6.5, Thiago Motta 7, Matuidi 7 (Van der Wiel 87, 6); Di Maria 7.5 (Cavani 82, 6), Ibrahimovic 8.5, Lucas 6.5 Moura (Pastore 77, 6)
Subs not used: Sirigu, Stambouli, Kurzawa, Augustin
Goal: Rabiot 16, Ibrahimovic 67
Booked: Rabiot, Motta, Matuidi

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany) 6.5
Attendance: 37,591
Match ratings by Sami Mokbel


GRAHAM POLL ON FELIX BRYCH

Felix Brych is an experienced referee who knows Champions League games well. But he was very weak, letting PSG break up play by allowing too many cynical challenges which should have been cautioned.
Blaise Matuidi pulled Pedro back with a rugby-style tackle but was not booked. Matuidi was cautioned late on for wrestling Cesar Azpilicueta to the ground, but would he have made the foul had he already been booked?
David Luiz pulled Diego Costa, almost taking off his shirt, without conceding a free-kick, and Costa escaped a yellow for tripping Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Eventually, six were booked but it was a disappointing display from the ref.



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