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PSG chase ultimate heist by stealing UCL quarter-final spot from Chelsea
The film location and crew are unchanged. The starring cast witnessed minor final brushstrokes that make it difficult once again to predict a happy ending for Paris Saint-Germain in their remake of last season’s clash against Chelsea in the Champions League.
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The Ligue 1 title holders registered a 3-1 win over the Blues at the Parc des Princes on April 1, 2014 before crashing and burning in the last minutes of the quarterfinals return leg at Stamford Bridge a week later (losing 2-0). The fortunes of both sides have evolved in such opposite directions since, that a PSG victory in the tie would rank as a classic in the genre of heist films.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the rest of his Ocean’s 11 gang will indeed need nothing less than a miracle to lift Paris Saint-Germain among the eight elite teams in Europe in 2014-15. Therein lies their biggest chance for an upset; if they manage to set aside their pride, relinquish possession to their opponent, run the distance and embrace the role of the underdog – they could yet topple Chelsea.
The only new face in the PSG side is David Luiz, who crossed the Channel in exchange for Dh209 million (€50m) million last summer. In Paris he has so far played centre-back, a position he once occupied with Benfica and Chelsea before his impetuous urges to push forward led to him being handed more freedom to express themselves in defensive midfield.
This switch had curbed his proclivity for reckless positioning and timing errors at Stamford Bridge, effectively turning the attack-minded centre-back into a defence-minded midfielder. When Chelsea played at Parc des Princes last year he was instrumental in his side dominating much of the second half, enforcing a stiff pace and distributing the ball on both wings with authority. His performance was so convincing that Ibrahimovic approached him during the second half, urging him to join PSG.
Months later the Swede’s wish became a reality, PSG allotting the core of their transfer budget to a player José Mourinho was fully prepared to let go of.
Chelsea used most of the funds to purchase Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa, the leading Premier League scorer with 17 goals, and Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas who currently has twice as many assists (15) as any other player in the English top-flight.
The Blues hold a firm lead in the Premier League, while Paris Saint-Germain slumped to third in Ligue 1 behind Lyon and Marseille, unable to display the authoritative brand of football which made them a scarecrow domestically over the past two years.
“We are not like Chelsea who are seven or eight points ahead in the Premier League,” PSG coach Laurent Blanc conceded before his side’s game against Caen on Saturday, appearing to attribute the Blues’ advantage in the league as something conferred to them by an outside force rather than the result of their hard work and carefully planned team-building. “We on the other hand need to collect points.”
Despite something resembling their strongest line-up, PSG relinquished a 2-0 lead against the Normandy side at Parc des Princes to concede a tenth draw in 25 league games this season. Zlatan scored a wondrous effort in the opening minutes before Ezequiel Lavezzi doubled the lead - but PSG lost four players to injury (all self-inflicted) and conceded an extra-time free-kick from Herve Bazile to let go of two precious points.
This storyline has become familiar for Blanc, whose destiny at the helm of PSG now hangs by a thread. In their last league defeat on January 10, Les Parisiens surrendered victory to Bastia despite a two-goal lead, conceding in the last minute and returning from Corsica empty-handed.
A similar scenario unfolded in their last Champions League game away at Barcelona. A draw was enough to see PSG top Group F and avoid top-ranked opposition from other groups in the last 16, yet Ibrahimovic’s opener was rendered null and void by Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez as the Blaugranas leapfrogged Blanc’s side to top the group.
This habit of coming on strong before eventually falling short is oddly similar to the capitulation that led to Demba Ba scoring an 87th-minute goal to take Chelsea into last year’s semi-finals.
Ten months have passed and the general sentiment on both sides of the Channel is that Mourinho’s team may not even have to wait until the latter stages of the second leg to affirm their dominance. Last season’s shortcomings have been addressed with the additions of Costa, Fabregas, Thibaut Courtois and Nemanja Matic - who is now eligible in the competition.
Key strengths have furthermore been consolidated; Eden Hazard has now reached new levels of unpredictability and efficiency on his wing and the former Lille star has just signed a new five-and-a-half year deal.
PSG, on the other hand, have not addressed all their concerns. A sad indictment of Blanc’s issues coming into Tuesday’s game was his attempt to try out David Luiz in defensive midfield upon his second-half introduction in Saturday’s game against Caen. For the first time this season, the Brazil international was brought on in the position he occupied in the final stages of his Chelsea career.
An injury to Serge Aurier saw the litmus test halted prematurely and it is now unlikely the Brazilian will start in the defensive midfield position which prompted Zlatan Ibrahimovic to ask him to join forces last year. Marquinhos and Aurier have both been ruled out of the contest meaning Luiz will be aligned alongside his countryman Thiago Silva in the centre, while Gregory Van der Wiel is to start at right-back.
The former Ajax full-back was subjected to heavy rotation in recent weeks with Aurier and Marquinhos both enjoying spells on the right wing. His duel with Hazard, one of Europe’s most in-form players, promises to be a cliffhanger in both legs.
David Luiz could have sounded more upbeat when he conceded Chelsea gained in balance since last year, although he insisted both sides had “50-50 chances” to go through.
His forecast says a lot about the upgrade PSG need to avoid another European setback and Ibrahimovic, still deprived of the continent’s most valued trophy at 34, left to look back on his Champions League career lamenting that he “could have been a contender”.
PSG and Chelsea likely line-ups
