Match date: 17 February 2015

The two sides met last year in the Champions League and while Paris Saint Germain took a 3-1 lead into the second leg of quarter finals, Chelsea won 2-0, knocking PSG out of the competition on away goals.

As Laurent Blanc looked to remedy last year’s ousting, he was left without Thiago Motta, who was unable to overcome a calf problem, which left Blanc to move David Luiz into midfield and start Marquinhos, who has been playing right back recently, at centre back. Lavezzi also got in the starting XI with Lucas Moura also out injured as Blanc continued with a 4-3-3.

Jose Mourinho was able to include Diego Costa in his starting XI which was as expected except for Oscar, who was replaced by Ramires and played alongside Matic, moving Fabregas up the field in Chelsea’s 4-2-3-1.

PSG Defend, Chelsea’s Slow Play

It was a tight match and was always going to be a match where players were making sure they did not make a mistake. For the first half, Chelsea controlled the ball for long periods, moving it from right to left, but their passing never looked to open up Paris Saint Germain. The Parisian side’s defended in a mid block and allowed the likes of Cahill, Terry, Ramires, and Matic to have the ball with Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic, and Cavani help cut off the passing lanes to Fabregas, Diego Costa, Hazard, and Willian. Below is a good example of this and occurred throughout the first half, up until Ivanovic’s opening goal.

The problem with Chelsea’s possession though, with credit to Paris Saint Germain’s defensive shape, was that it slow and tentative. Rarely were Fabregas, Willian, or Hazard found with a pass in the space between the lines. There were certainly opportunities to get the ball to them if Chelsea worked the ball quickly, but the passing between Terry, Cahill, Ramires, and Matic was incredibly slow and seemed to lack any imagination or urgency. It was exactly was Paris Saint Germain wanted when they were defending and it forced Fabregas to drop alongside Matic and Ramires to even get opportunities on the ball. Below you can see the amount of passes that Chelsea played within their half of the field, in front of the Paris Saint Germain mid block as well as where Fabregas was forced to go to pick up the ball.

With their possession so deep, Chelsea only managed one shot on target in the first half and that was when Ivanovic scored and was just one of a few touches that Chelsea managed in the Paris Saint Germain penalty area in the first half. As the first half went on, Chelsea looked to play longer balls to Diego Costa for a couple of reasons. The first was that they were failing to get the ball into the feet of Hazard, Willian, or Fabregas in threatening situations. Another was that at times Chelsea lacked any depth in their play as their attacking quartet were all in the same line, pushed to PSG’s back four, which meant Chelsea looked like a 4-2-4, but the ball was only being played between the players in Chelsea’s own half. Lastly, because Paris Saint Germain were playing a relatively high line to help the midfield squeeze the play, there was a good amount of space in behind them that Chelsea could have theoretically exposed. However, this tactic was largely ineffective and Costa rarely got on the end of any of these attempts with Thiago Silva and Marquinhos dealing with Chelsea’s long balls well.

This would have been exactly what Laurent Blanc and Paris Saint Germain wanted and would have felt very hard done by Ivanovic’s goal, which they conceded after a set piece. Credit to the Chelsea defender, however, for his anticipation on Cahill’s flick and his well placed header.

Chelsea Sit, PSG Attack Down the Left

Scoring a goal in the first half allowed Jose Mourinho to instruct his side to defend their goal, a vital away goal, and look to play on the counter, something they could have done really well, especially on the left side of their attack with Hazard up against Van der Wiel. It was a significant turn as Paris Saint Germain were forced to defend for much of the first half and now Chelsea were allowing the home side to have the ball as they looked to defend their one goal advantage. PSG did have some good spells of possession in the first half and Cavani and Ibrahimovic forced Courtois into good saves.

Paris Saint Germain were much more effective than Chelsea were with their possession. Their play was much quicker and they looked to attack the wide areas, especially down the left as they were able to overload Ivanovic and Willian with Matuidi’s runs out wide, with the centre mid providing the cross for Cavani’s equaliser. Another reason for their success outwide was that Lavezzi, Cavani, and Ibrahimovic (the latter two in particular) were very narrow and positioned themselves with the Chelsea penalty area, which forced Chelsea’s back four to play very narrow. Cavani’s goal was a perfect example of this approach and David Luiz found Maxwell in a 1v1 situation with Willian. Matuidi was able to overlap the Brazilian full back, creating a 2v1, with Ramires slow to close down, and Cavani found himself unmarked in the six yard box.

Paris Saint Germain strongly prefered attacking on the left and you can see in the above picture that they were much more successful at creating chances from that side of the pitch for the reasons stated above and because of Van der Wiel’s lack of final ball. The Dutchman had some good opportunities in both halves to put dangerous crosses in, but more often than not he chose the wrong decision; playing the a low and hard cross rather than hanging it out to the back post or vice versa. On the left, however, Matuidi and Maxwell were much more effective and because if this both Cavani and Ibrahimovic knew they could make runs to either post and be picked out. Both had good chances in the final ten minutes of the match with Cavani mistiming an overhead kick and Ibrahimovic forced Courtois into a good save with a late header.

Hazard Marked Man, Courtois

Eden Hazard was Chelsea’s best player on the night. He was up against Gregory Van der Wiel, who hasn’t been starting regularly for the home side and is not known for his defensive qualities as much as he is for going forward. The Dutch defender was usually far too tight to Hazard, and when the Belgian received, Van der Wiel would often be too quick to bite and foul the winger or allow Hazard to turn easily. For the Belgian, it was a night that could have been better, but he still managed to be Chelsea’s most threatening player on the pitch. During the first half, his side struggled to get him the ball, as mentioned above, but when he did, he created problems by taking players on and winning fouls in dangerous positions, though Chelsea never made the most of their set piece opportunities and Hazard’s final ball was absent.

After the match, both John Terry and Jose Mourinho praised Courtois, and rightfully so as the goalkeeper kept Chelsea in the tie with a number of good saves, particular from shots by Cavani and Ibrahimovic.

Conclusion

A match that could have seen Paris Saint Germain winners against Chelsea at Parc des Princes once again, but instead see the French side going to Stamford Bridge at 1-1, with Chelsea holding an away goal advantage. Mourinho will certainly be the happier of the two managers, especially as Chelsea were only able to manage one shot on goal, while Courtois was forced into a number of saves.

Blanc will be hoping for a performance more akin to their second half performance in the second leg of the time. They’ll need to dominate possession and will more than likely find success in the wide areas of the pitch once again.