Chelsea determined to avoid Paris repeat
Friday, February 19, 2016
Article summary
Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are becoming regular knockout foes, the English club winning through in 2014 but Paris triumphing at Stamford Bridge 12 months ago.
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Article body
Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea FC meet in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds for the third successive season. In each of the previous two campaigns, the winners progressed on away goals.
• This year's tie looks to be similarly tight, with Edinson Cavani's 78th-minute strike giving Paris a 2-1 victory after Zlatan Ibrahimović's deflected opener had been swiftly wiped out by John Obi Mikel.
Previous meetings
• Last term's round of 16 encounter was thrilling with the sides level at 1-1 when they stepped out for the Stamford Bridge return. Paris lost Ibrahimović to a 31st-minute red card and in a dramatic end to the 90 minutes, Gary Cahill's late goal was wiped out by David Luiz's 86th-minute header.
• Eden Hazard put Chelsea back in front with a penalty in extra time only for Thiago Silva to score a second, decisive equaliser with six minutes remaining.
• The Stamford Bridge lineups on 11 March 2015 were:
Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanović, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires (Drogba 90), Matić (Zouma 84), Fàbregas, Oscar (Willian 46), Hazard, Diego Costa.
Paris: Sirigu, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Maxwell, Pastore (Van der Wiel 28), Verratti (Lavezzi 81), Thiago Motta, Matuidi (Rabiot 81), Cavani, Ibrahimović.
• In the first leg a Branislav Ivanović header gave Chelsea the lead, Cavani replying for the hosts.
• The teams also met in the 2014 quarter-finals, Paris prevailing 3-1 at home thanks to goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore either side of an own goal from Luiz, then with Chelsea.
• Chelsea's sole first-leg response had been a Hazard penalty, which proved crucial as a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge, courtesy of substitutes André Schürrle and Demba Ba, took José Mourinho's charges through on away goals.
• The full lineups at Stamford Bridge on 8 April 2014 were:
Chelsea: Čech, Ivanović, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Lampard (Ba 66), Willian, Oscar (Torres 81), Hazard (Schürrle 18), Eto'o.
Paris: Sirigu, Jallet, Alex, Thiago Silva, Maxwell, Verratti (Cabaye 55), Thiago Motta, Matuidi, Lucas (Marquinhos 85), Cavani, Lavezzi (Pastore 73).
• Chelsea were 3-0 victors in Paris in the 2004/05 group stage, John Terry among the scorers. The return at Stamford Bridge ended goalless.
• The lineups at Stamford Bridge on 24 November 2004 were:
Chelsea: Cudicini, Johnson, Gallas, Carvalho, Bridge, Parker, Smertin, J Cole, Lampard (Gudjohnsen 62), Robben (Duff 46), Kežman (Drogba 62).
Paris: Letizi, Mendy, Cana, Armand, M'Bami, Pierre-Fanfan, Rothen, Cissé (Bošković 83), Pauleta (Pancrate 90), Yepes, Reinaldo (Coridon 77).
Match background
Chelsea
• They are unbeaten in seven home games against French opposition and have kept five clean sheets. The sole exception before last season's 2-2 draw with Paris was another 2-2 draw, with AS Monaco FC in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg, prompting a 5-3 aggregate loss.
• The Londoners beat an FC Girondins de Bordeaux outfit coached by Laurent Blanc 4-0 at home on matchday one of the 2008/09 competition before a 1-1 draw in France.
• They are looking to book a fourth quarter-final in six seasons, and a seventh in the last ten campaigns.
• Chelsea topped their group for the tenth time in their last 13 attempts, finishing as runners-up twice in that period. They won all three home matches in Group G, against Maccabi Tel-Aviv (4-0), FC Dynamo Kyiv (2-1) and FC Porto (2-0).
• After the group stage the Stamford Bridge club appointed Guus Hiddink, coach of PSV Eindhoven when they lifted the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1987/88, as interim manager in place of José Mourinho.
• The Blues have won eight of the 13 UEFA competition ties in which they had a first-leg deficit to retrieve at Stamford Bridge, most recently against Paris in 2013/14. They have won two of the three ties in which they lost the first leg 2-1 away – against Fenerbahçe SK in the 2007/08 quarter-finals (2-0 home) and FC Barcelona in the 2004/05 round of 16 (4-2 home) but lost the last such tie, to FC Internazionale Milano – then coached by Mourinho – in the 2009/10 round of 16 (0-1 home).
• Chelsea's shoot-out record in UEFA competition is W1 L3:
1-4 v Liverpool FC, 2006/07 UEFA Champions League semi-final
5-6 v Manchester United FC, 2007/08 UEFA Champions League final
4-3 v FC Bayern München, 2011/12 UEFA Champions League final
4-5 v FC Bayern München, 2013 UEFA Super Cup
Paris
• Blanc's side are aiming for a fourth successive appearance in the quarter-finals, where they lost to Barcelona in 2013 and 2015.
• They enjoyed two thumping away victories in finishing second in Group A, 3-0 at FC Shakhtar Donetsk and 5-0 at Malmö FF, either side of a 1-0 defeat at Real Madrid CF.
• The Parisian club have played 11 matches against teams from England with the record W3 D5 L4. Away it is W0 D3 L3.
• The Parc des Princes outfit have won 11 of 15 European ties in which they won the first leg at home, although they lost the last such tie – against Chelsea in 2013/14. When the first game finished 2-1, however, they have lost both ties – against SL Benfica in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup round of 16 (1-3 away) and Boavista FC in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup third round (0-1 away, lost on away goals).
• Paris's European shoot-out record is W0 L1:
3-4 v Rangers FC, 2001/02 UEFA Cup third round
Coach and player links
• Luiz joined Paris in 2014 after three and a half years and 81 Premier League appearances for Chelsea, scoring six times.
• He played the full 120 minutes of the 2012 final against Bayern München, converting his spot kick in the shoot-out. He also featured in the defeat of Benfica in the 2013 UEFA Europa League final in Amsterdam.
• Alex also swapped Stamford Bridge for the Parc des Princes; Claude Makélélé, Nicolas Anelka and Mateja Kežman all played for both teams.
• Blanc ended his playing days at Manchester United between 2001 and 2003, figuring in both league meetings against Chelsea in his first season – 3-0 victories for the away sides – and a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in his second.
• In 2010/11 Hazard helped LOSC Lille beat Paris 1-0 in the French Cup final; a week later he played in a 2-2 Parc des Princes draw which gave LOSC their first French double since 1946. The Belgian lost just one of nine Ligue 1 matches against Paris, scoring in a 2-1 home success in April 2012.
• Loïc Rémy represented Marseille between 2010 and 2013, netting in a 3-0 Ligue 1 home win over Paris in November 2011; César Azpilicueta helped set up one of the goals.
• Played in England: Ángel Di María, Manchester United (2014/15); Benjamin Stambouli, Tottenham Hotspur FC (2014/15).
• International team-mates:
Kurt Zouma, Rémy, Blaise Matuidi and Layvin Kurzawa (France)
Silva, Luiz, Lucas, Marquinhos, Oscar and Ramires (Brazil)
• Oscar registered in Brazil's 3-0 friendly success over Matuidi's France on 9 June 2013 in Porto Alegre.
• Matuidi got both goals in France's 2-1 win against Ivanović's Serbia on 7 September 2015 in a Bordeaux friendly.
• Hazard scored for, and captained, a Belgium side featuring Thibaut Courtois in a 4-3 victory over France in a Stade de France friendly on 7 June 2015.
• In Argentina's 1-1 draw with Brazil in Buenos Aires on 14 November 2015 – a FIFA World Cup qualifier – Ángel Di María played for the hosts as did Luiz (later sent off) and Willian for Brazil. Oscar remained on the bench.
Match facts
Chelsea
• Nemanja Matić is available for selection, having been suspended for the first leg.
• Chelsea have lost just once – the 2-1 first-leg defeat by Paris – in 17 matches since Mourinho was dismissed on 17 December.
• Chelsea appointed Hiddink as interim manager for a second time two days later. The Blues have drawn seven and won eight of his 15 games in charge.
• The west Londoners had won their last three league fixtures prior to Saturday's 1-1 draw with Stoke – their best top-flight run since they posted four consecutive victories in March/April 2015.
• Terry has not played since sustaining a hamstring injury against Newcastle United FC on 13 February.
• Pedro Rodríguez went off with a hamstring problem six minutes into the 2-1 triumph over Southampton FC on 27 February and has not played since.
• Kenedy scored after 39 seconds against Norwich – the quickest goal in the Premier League this term. Bertrand Traoré made his first league start for Chelsea in the 2-1 victory at Carrow Road.
• Zouma damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the 1-1 draw against Manchester United on 7 February and was subsequently ruled out for six months.
• Diego Costa has scored ten goals since Hiddink took charge, six more than he managed this season under Mourinho.
• Ruben Loftus-Cheek signed a new five-year contract on 29 February.
Paris
• Serge Aurier, Marco Verratti, Ibrahimović and David Luiz are a booking away from a ban.
• Paris' Ligue 1 record of 36 matches without defeat ended when they went down 2-1 at Olympique Lyonnais on 28 February. It was their first loss in 46 domestic fixtures (not including the French Super Cup, played in Montreal).
• Blanc's men returned to winning ways on 2 March, Marquinhos's first goal of the season helping them to a 3-1 victory at AS Saint-Étienne in the last eight of the French Cup. They will play FC Lorient in the semi-finals on 19 April.
• Verratti (groin) has not played since 20 February, while Di María (thigh) made his first appearance since then as a starter in the 0-0 draw with Montpellier on Saturday.
• Winners of the last two editions, Paris face LOSC in the French League Cup final on 23 April.