Before those hopes were crushed. Pre kick-off at the Bridge : Picture by @YTJourno
**Champions League Rd 16 2nd leg**
**Paris Saint-Germain (2) 3** Kvaratskhelia 6, Barcola 14, Doue 62
They may like to bill themselves as world champions after winning the Infantino Cup in the summer against PSG over in the USA, but no one can be in any doubt who the stronger side is.
The Champions League holders simply blew Chelsea away with a masterly display of swagger, skill and lethal finishing. With one foot already in the quarter-finals after their 5-2 triumph over the Blues in Paris last week, there was no reason for them to be anything but confident and they showcased their collective as well as individual excellence.
Chelsea knew an early goal could change the entire complexion of this tie of course - they just didn't bank on that goal being scored by the visitors.
Desperate to make inroads on that first leg deficit, the last thing the Blues needed in their Everest climb was an extra challenge up the Lhotse Face. As it happens, they gifted the European champions a goal after six minutes.
Mamadou Sarr miss-controlled a ball he should have dealt with comfortably and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia pounced. He is simply not the player you can afford to be so generous towards. His left foot shot flashed past Robert Sanchez's left hand in an instant.
Soon after, it was 2-0 - Bradley Barcola firing into the top corner from the edge of the box after a typical marauding run from Achraf Hakimi down the right. It already felt like game, set and match and we'd only been playing for 15 minutes.
The Blues did fashion a response, with Cole Palmer going close and Jorrel Hato's header having keeper Matvei Safonov at full stretch, but PSG were in easy street - pinging the ball around confidently and threatening further damage. Barcola's charge from half way was only thwarted by a smothering Sanchez save.
The PSG fans didn't stop singing. It was party time virtually from the off for them. "On est chez nous!" they chanted. It was just like being at home in the Parc des Princes for them.
There was a chance to get a goal back when Marc Cucurella intercepted a clearance and quickly transferred the ball to Joao Pedro, but the striker's curling shot drifted wide.
A triple substitution on the hour was a virtual signal of surrender, with Cole Palmer, Joaoa Pedroand Enzo Fernandez withdrawn from the fray. It didn't go down too well with home fans.
Almost immediately, Desire Doue came on to inflict more pain for the Blues - thrashing the ball home first time after it broke to him on the edge of the box. Many a Blues fan saw fit to take it as their signal to depart.
Once again for PSG, the Premier League had held no terrors for them. Last year they put paid to the hopes of Liverpool, Villa and Arsenal and seem to enjoy these trips across the channel.
For Chelsea, it was a night that sums up a bad week for them following the well publicised fine for illegal payments for transfers during the Abramovich era.
To cap it all, they had Trevoh Chalobah stretchered off towards the end. With skipper Reece James ruled out for the forseeable future, it's fair to say there have been better weeks for the Stamford Bridge faithful.
**Blues:** (4-2-3-1) Sanchez - Chalobah, Sarr (Acheampong h/t), Hato, Cucurella (Tosin 72) - Andrey Santos - Palmer (Garnacho 59), Fernandez (Lavia 59), Pedro Neto - Joao Pedro (Delap 59)
**PSG:** (4-3-3) Safonov - Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes - Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Joao Neves (Mayulu h/t) - Kvaratskhelia (Kang In 73), Dembele (Ramos 66), Barcola (Doue 59)