In my mind, there is only one way of looking at Wednesday’s match: last year Chelsea returned to Stamford Bridge down 3-1 on aggregate, and advanced on away goals by winning 2-0. This year, Chelsea return to Stamford Bridge with the score currently resting at 1-1.
2-1 was an acceptable score to take back home for the second leg, but a late solo goal from Javier Pastore buried the Blues 3-1. It was going to take a hell of a performance to turn around that deficit, but Chelsea did it through a late Demba Ba goal and a few final minutes of nervy defending.
This time around, Chelsea will be feeling pretty fortunate to be taking a 1-1 score line back to London. The opening match in Paris was one where we did not have the better chances, but the better luck. Aside from a goal that was bizarre, yet full of quality involving the combined efforts of three Chelsea defenders, the Londoners weren’t too effective offensively. It was PSG who created more chances and ultimately didn’t take them. So in the end, the 1-1 result was great for Chelsea and frustrating for PSG.
Because of this, the Blues have a whole lot going for them ahead of Wednesday. Chelsea has an away goal, a level aggregate, and home field advantage. These factors will allow Jose Mourinho to set his squad’s tactics perfectly for the match.
A clean bill of health for Chelsea aside from John Obi Mikel plus the return of Nemanja Matic will see them at full strength on Wednesday night. The squad will also be very well rested after not playing this weekend, and Mourinho has had a full week to prepare his side for the match.
As for PSG they will be without Aurier and Lucas, which won’t greatly affect the strength of their starting eleven, but will limit their options off the bench. Lucas will be a greater miss for them as he can be very lively at times and caused Chelsea problems last year. As opposed to Chelsea, PSG played a Ligue 1 match on Saturday where they comfortably eased past Lens 4-1. While they are in good form, they’ve had less time to rest and prepare for the battle at the Bridge, and that alone could have a factor on their performance come Wednesday.
If we compare last year’s clash to this years between European heavyweights Chelsea and PSG, we can say that Chelsea may just have the upper hand going into the Champions League round of sixteen second leg. However, we’ll just have to wait and see!
Score prediction: Chelsea 2-1 PSG (3-2 agg)
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