On Wednesday night, Chelsea will face Paris Saint-Germain in a huge Champions League match. Liam Rosenior made some surprising choices for his starting XI for the first leg of the last 16 at the Parc des Princes. Fans are already talking about Filip Jorgensen getting the start in goal over Robert Sanchez.
Reece James is the captain of the midfield with Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez. Cole Palmer plays the number 10 role behind Pedro Neto and Joao Pedro up front. Fans on X have had very different reactions. Some people like that Rosenior is making the team more competitive, as one person wrote: “Finally, a coach who tells players that their position isn’t guaranteed.”
Others, on the other hand, are not so sure. The main topic of conversation has been whether Neto should be included and how to balance the midfield against PSG’s possession-heavy system. Some people have even called for Lavia and Santos to start instead.
The Blues come to Paris after a thrilling 4-2 win over Wrexham in the FA Cup fifth round, and they have only lost two of their last nine games in all competitions. Chelsea have also been very good at scoring goals since Rosenior took over, scoring 38 goals in 15 games across all competitions.
The Blues have also won 13 of their last 16 European two-legged ties and all three of their most recent Champions League round-of-16 matches. At least, history is on their side.
Chelsea XI to face PSG: Jorgensen, Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, James (c), Caicedo, Palmer, Enzo, Neto, Joao Pedro
Bench: Sanchez, Merrick, Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Sarr, Badiashile, Hato, Santos, Lavia, Garnacho, Guiu, Delap
Rosenior’s Honest Words Before The PSG Game
Liam Rosenior has said that age was not an issue for his team, using PSG’s own Champions League win last season as proof that being young doesn’t stop you from winning in Europe.
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“I don’t have too big an ego to say I don’t look at other coaches and learn from them. I showed the Strasbourg players clips of PSG last year. They were magnificent at the time.”
Rosenior said that he has tried to “take things” he has learned from PSG coach Luis Enrique and make them part of his own style of play. In his last game against Luis Enrique’s team, which was in October with Strasbourg, his team were ahead 3-1 before PSG came back to tie it at 3-3. Rosenior will do everything he can to make sure that nothing like this happens on Wednesday night.