The most encouraging news for Chelsea, at the end of a hugely disappointing night, is that when they set about trying to overturn this deficit at Stamford Bridge next week there will almost certainly be no involvement for the man who likes to think of himself as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, superstar. There is, however, plenty to concern José Mourinho after a game that leaves the champions of Ligue 1 in a clear position of command. Eden Hazards first-half penalty at least offers a glimmer of hope but if Chelsea defend this generously again the bottom line is that it will almost certainly be their last match in this seasons competition. They have chosen a bad moment of the season to start letting in soft goals and this defeat, on top of what happened at Crystal Palace at the weekend , threatens to have serious repercussions for their entire season. The damage is still retrievable but it is difficult to be hugely optimistic when Mourinho clearly has so little trust in his strikers, with Fernando Torres increasingly becoming the scapegoat of choice, and especially now John Terry and his colleagues are starting to look unusually flaky. The problem with Torres is not a new one but Chelseas success this season has been built on a parsimonious defence and once that lapses it highlights their other deficiencies all the more. Terry was badly at fault as Ezequiel Lavezzi, the games outstanding player, opened the scoring in the third minute. David Luiz, who had lost the ball in the buildup, inadvertently helped PSG regain the lead and there are two ways to look at what happened in stoppage time when the substitute Javier Pastore completed the scoring. One is that it was a goal of sheer brilliance, as Pastore wriggled clear of César Azpilicueta, then eluded Frank Lampard before letting fly with a low, angled shot. The alternative view is that it felt completely out of keeping with what we know about Chelsea on these nights.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 04:41:14 +0000