The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| PSG vanguished by Chelsea’s wealth of experience Posted: 09 Apr 2014 01:20 AM PDT A confident PSG carried a 3-1 home win into the return leg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, but the French giants were outfoxed by Jose Mourinho's team as the 2012 Champions League winners prevailed 2-0 on the night to advance on away goals. While Laurent Blanc's team had promised to stay true to their attacking philosophy, they were dominated in possession and despite a good start, were toothless up front in the absence of their injured talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Chelsea played with intelligence and the patience of a side with belief in their own strengths, an inner trust drawn from four semi-final appearances in the seven previous seasons. They refused to be unsettled by an early injury to Eden Hazard, who made way for Andre Schuerrle, with the German opening the scoring in the first half. "Experience made the difference. Chelsea are more used to playing these games than we are," Blanc told reporters. With the aggregate score at 3-2 in PSG's favour and 45 minutes remaining, the visitors had to choose between defending what they had or trying to score the goal that would have almost certainly been enough to ensure a passage through to the semi-finals. Blanc was unable to make that choice. "In the second half, with a one-goal advantage, we were in an awkward position," explained right back Christophe Jallet. "Should we attack or stay in position? We allowed space between our lines and it became complicated. We did not have our usual grip on the game." In the absence of Ibrahimovic, Blanc opted to field Edinson Cavani up front and to put Lucas on the right wing, leaving out Javier Pastore, whose technical skills would have helped PSG retain the ball when Chelsea were looking to turn the game into an end-to-end contest. Brazil forward Lucas, who has not scored in his last 28 games in all competitions, instead ran through the midfield with his head down, often missing the obvious pass near the box and ending up losing the ball. Yet former national coach Blanc, whose tactical choices were questioned when France lost 2-0 to Spain in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals, left him on the pitch when he decided to send Pastore on after 73 minutes and took Ezequiel Lavezzi off. With Cavani having an off day, PSG failed to score for the first time since last December and just like last year when they went out to Barcelona, were knocked out on the away goals rule in the last eight. Demba Ba, the Senegalese striker born in the Paris suburbs, scooped in the winner in the 87th minute as PSG paid the price for their lack of ambition on the pitch. "In the second half, we were pinned back in our half," Blanc admitted as his team only enjoyed 46% of possession over 90 minutes. "I am disappointed, even if we have to admit Chelsea are more experienced than us," PSG president Nasser al Khelaifi said. "We were close. We have not won this tie, but we have gained experience for the future." PSG have spent more than 200 million euros (RM892 million) on transfers since being taken over by Qatar Sports Investments in 2012, with a five-year plan to win the Champions League. They realised on Tuesday that it may take them a little longer. Chelsea, who were taken over by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2003, waited nine years to finally lift the trophy and they could soon be adding a second. – Reuters, April 9. 2014. |
| Spirited Chelsea leave Mourinho aiming high Posted: 09 Apr 2014 12:06 AM PDT Despite trimming PSG's 3-1 aggregate lead through Andre Schuerrle, Chelsea were heading out of the competition until Ba bundled home in the 87th minute of yesterday's quarter-final second leg at Stamford Bridge to send his team through on away goals. The London club's comeback carried echoes of their 2012 success over Napoli, when they overcame a 3-1 first-leg loss in the last 16 with a 4-1 win before going on to beat Bayern Munich on penalties in the final. While Mourinho has often declared that his team are a work in progress – and described the victory over PSG as "nothing extraordinary" – he said the belief that his players had shown augured well for the last four. "We're in the semi-finals and if the quarter-finals had eight fantastic teams, imagine the four that are going to reach the semi-finals," he said. "Anything can happen. A big opponent is waiting for us in the semi-finals, but I think it doesn't matter who. They know that we are the team with special spirit, even if we are not at the maximum of our potential." Asked if he would like to face former club Real Madrid in the last four, Mourinho replied: "No. It doesn't matter. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico (Madrid), Bayern Munich, Manchester (United), it doesn't matter." Mourinho regularly complains about the lack of top-level goal-scorers in his squad and he hailed Ba's decisive contribution after electing to send him on instead of Fernando Torres in the 66th minute. "He's a good guy, a good professional, a good group man. I'm very happy for him," said the Portuguese. "The fact I played him before Nando made him feel that he doesn't have the number three striker on his back and his enthusiasm was fantastic. "He started to give problems to Paris that normally they don't have in their league because normally there's a different style of approach." On his goal, Ba told ITV: "It all happened so quick. I saw the ball and it was in the goal. "I just do what I have to do when I get chances. I didn't have chances this season, but tonight (Tuesday) I took it." Mourinho celebrated Ba's goal by gambolling down the touchline towards his players, but he said that his dash was purely motivated by a desire to impart some tactical instructions. "It was not to celebrate. It was to tell the players how we have to play the last minutes," he said. "In that moment they want to celebrate, to think the game is over, and they forget that you still have three plus three or four minutes (of stoppage time) to play." The only black marks for Chelsea were a booking for Branislav Ivanovic that rules him out of the first leg of their semi-final and a calf injury to Eden Hazard that Mourinho said could keep him out for two weeks. For PSG it was a second successive quarter-final defeat on away goals, after last season's elimination at the hands of Barcelona. They were left to rue a series of missed chances when the score was still 1-0, notably an effort that Edinson Cavani put over the crossbar, and coach Laurent Blanc said that his side could not use the supposed inferiority of Ligue 1 as an excuse. "We can't hide behind that," he said. "You guys (journalists) often denigrate Ligue 1 compared to the Champions League, but we can't always use that as an excuse. We can't change it. Ligue 1 is what it is. "In my opinion, the tie between PSG and Chelsea came down to not much. I'd attribute it more to Chelsea's experience at this level compared to us. "I think the familiarity with playing these matches ultimately makes the little difference. I'd flag that up instead of the supposed weakness of Ligue 1." – AFP, April 9, 2014. |
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