Liam Rosenior has the ultimate chance to heal a decades-old wound as Chelsea prepared to face Paris Saint-Germain in a high-stakes Champions League Round of 16 showdown.
So, it’s a repeat of the FIFA Club World Cup final coming up for Chelsea in the Champions League, as Paris Saint-Germain are the opponents over two legs.
It looks almost certain that the dates will be the 11th and 17th of March, with the home leg taking place on the 17th at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea fans will have fond memories of the FIFA Club World Cup triumph in the summer, where Enzo Maresca’s side came out as 3-0 winners.
However, the recent record between these two sides in the Champions League isn’t great.
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Jose Mourinho’s disastrous Champions League tie against PSG
Jose Mourinho’s 2014-15 Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain will be fresh in the minds of many. After securing a strategic 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes, the Blues appeared to have a clear path to the quarter-finals when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off just 31 minutes into the second leg.
However, rather than capitalising on the man advantage, Mourinho’s side retreated into a cautious, defensive shell that invited relentless pressure from the ten men.
Despite late goals from Gary Cahill and an Eden Hazard penalty, Chelsea were twice pegged back by headers from corners, first by former Blue David Luiz and finally by a looping 114th-minute effort from Thiago Silva.
The 3-3 aggregate defeat on away goals prompted Ibrahimovic to famously mock Chelsea’s players as ‘eleven babies’, while Mourinho later admitted his squad simply couldn’t cope with the mental pressure.
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Time for Liam Rosenior to avenge Jose Mourinho
Liam Rosenior’s upcoming Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain offers a direct path to removing the ghosts of 2015 that have haunted Chelsea.
Having already outmaneuvered Luis Enrique once this season to hold PSG to a 3-3 draw with Strasbourg, Rosenior has proven he has the know how. By replacing Mourinho’s cautious approach with his own brand of high-octane football, Rosenior can ensure this young Chelsea squad doesn’t repeat the psychological errors of the past.
The key lies in maintaining the aggressive tempo that saw the Blues dismantle PSG 3-0 in the Club World Cup final last summer.
However, recent performances from Chelsea under Rosenior have leaned more towards the Mourinho approach, with leads slipping against Burnley and Leeds United.
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