A night to forget for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.placeholder image
A night to forget for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. | Getty Images
Liam Rosenior saw his Chelsea side thrashed once against by PSG with the Blues dumped out the Champions League.
Chelsea arrived at Stamford Bridge with the hopes of completing a Champions League comeback against PSG that history would not forget.
The clash under the lights in West London will certainly be etched in the history books, but not for the reason Liam Rosenior and his men will want - the Blues falling to a 3-0 defeat and 8-2 loss on aggregate.
It’s the first time that Chelsea have conceded eight or more goals across two legs of a European tie and the hosts looked levels off their opponents. There were moments of positivity, despite the scoreline, but the Ligue 1 giants were happy to let the Blues have their moments and feed off mistakes.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and Senny Mayulu were the ones who did the damage on Tuesday night and ensured that Luis Enrique’s side were deserved winners. Here’s how the Chelsea players rated.
Chelsea Player Ratings v Barcelona
GK - Robert Sanchez, 6
Saw three fly past him but those were some brilliant finishes. Could’ve perhaps been more lively to help out Mamadou Sarr after the defender’s error for the first. Made a really solid save when one-on-one with Barcola before half-time. Was furious with some of the errors in front of him, bellowing at his back line.
LB - Marc Cucurella, 4
A frustrating night for Cucurella. In these big games, is so often either inspired or loses his head - tonight, it was the latter. Had to be calmed down by a frustrated Pedro Neto in the second half.
CB - Jorrel Hato, 7
Some really good work with the ball at his feet. That was a good performance against a very tricky PSG front line. Ousmane Dembele was kept quiet through the middle.
CB - Trevoh Chalobah, 5
Made the wrong pass under pressure to give the ball away ahead of the first goal.
RB - Mamadou Sarr, 3
That was a torrid Champions League debut. Far, far too pedestrian when controlling a squirming ball in the first half and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia did not need a second invitation. That mistake killed the game from Chelsea and the PSG number seven loved toying with the 20-year-old. Luckily for Sarr, there won’t be many nights harder than this.
CDM - Moises Caicedo, 4
A world-class defensive midfielder, except when up against other world-class midfielders? Lost his cool at 2-0 down with some needless barges into opposition players. Made an appalling half-arsed attempt to block the third goal. That body language did not look good.
CDM - Andrey Santos, 3
Looked out of his depth tonight. Santos’ good season won’t be judged on tonight but he struggled on the ball too often. Had Stamford Bridge groaning when giving away the ball needlessly on the edge of the box shortly after the break and did the same again moments later to gift PSG the move that led to the third.
CDM- Enzo Fernandez, 5
Covered a lot of ground in a very versatile position but no panache. Not at fault today but the skipper was unable to inspire a magical comeback.
CAM - Cole Palmer, 6
Showed plenty of hustle and bustle, even with his side 2-0 down but not quite able to find the magic to unlock PSG.
CAM - Pedro Neto, 8
Couldn’t have tried much harder tonight in a workhorse performance. Was well up for it straight away and looked to play direct. Vocal with his teammates who saw standards slipping too. The winger can hold his head high tonight, kudos to him.
ST - Joao Pedro, 8
There was a lot to like about the £60 million man tonight. Pedro has come on leaps and bounds this season and looks capable of posing a real threat to the top European sides. No goal but came a whisker wide before his substitution and beat the ox-like Willian Pacho for strength to set up a one-one-one in the first half.
Subs - Josh Acheampong (5), Liam Delap (6), Alejandro Garancho (7), Romeo Lavia (5), Tosin Adarabioyo (7).
In other news, 'I'm Sure': Glenn Hoddle drops verdict on Cole Palmer transfer from Chelsea to Man Utd.
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