On Tuesday, Paris Saint-Germain beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, completing a historic demolition. This has given them an incredible 8-2 aggregate victory and a spot in the Champions League quarter-finals. The Blues’ 7-1 loss to Bayern Munich in 2020 was their worst ever in the knockout stages of the European Cup.
Mamadou Sarr, who happened to be at right-back, couldn’t handle a long ball from PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov. This let Khvicha Kvaratskhelia slip in and shoot past Robert Sanchez in the first seven minutes. Moises Caicedo lost the ball in the middle of the pitch less than ten minutes later, and PSG broke with lightning speed, with Achraf Hakimi pulling the ball back for Bradley Barcola to shoot into the top corner.
The tie was pretty much over by the 15th minute, when home fans showed their anger by booing in a quickly emptying Stamford Bridge. Before the game, Chelsea striker Joao Pedro had a defiant tone in an interview with World Soccer Talk:
“I think this week has been difficult for us, but we know our strength, we know the players we have here and we still believe. We demonstrated our power in the Club World Cup final and now have to score three goals again.”
That hope proved very wrong, as Chelsea created chances but couldn’t finish them off throughout the game. Safonov stopped nine shots on the night to keep the Blues from scoring. He stopped Garnacho, Delap, and Joao Pedro several times in the second half.
Mayulu’s Clinical Finish Caps Off a Miserable Night for Chelsea
Luis Enrique’s substitutes worked much better than Rosenior’s. Kvaratskhelia rolled the ball back, and the loose ball fell nicely for substitute Senny Mayulu, who hit a perfect shot into the top corner to make it 3-0 on the night. The 19-year-old’s goal made the total score 8-2 in PSG’s favour.
Chelsea’s problems grew worse when Trevoh Chalobah was taken off on a stretcher after Rosenior had used all five of his substitutions. This meant that the hosts had to finish the game with only 10 players.
PSG move on to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where they will face either Galatasaray or Liverpool. For Chelsea, this is a sobering end to their European campaign, as Rosenior’s weak defence was once again shown on the biggest stage.
When the final whistle blew, the home crowd had already made their feelings about the head coach clear. The FIFA Club World Cup winners now have an unclear path ahead as they try to get back on track in the Premier League.