Paris Saint-Germain inflicted a humbling defeat on Chelsea, scoring eight goals across the two legs and leaving little doubt about the gulf in class between these two sides. For the defending champions, they appear to be hitting Champions League form at the right time, and the boisterous away fans cheered every pass as PSG seemed to toy with Chelsea at times. As in the first leg, it was Kvicha Kvaratskhelia who inflicted the most damage.
For Chelsea, it was a humbling evening and one that revealed the scale of the task facing Liam Rosenior. After their early capitulation, there were boos from supporters at half-time and many left long before the final whistle.
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It was an uncomplicated opener for PSG. The visiting goalkeeper, Matvei Safonov, sent a deep kick in behind Chelsea’s high defensive line and Mamadou Sarr failed to clear, allowing Kvaratskhelia to slip in behind him and side-foot into the net.
Chelsea were second best from the first minute (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Another Chelsea error led to another PSG goal. Moises Caicedo kicked the ball into Andrey Santos in midfield and Warren Zaire-Emery surged into the Chelsea half, slipping the ball to the overlapping Achraf Hakimi. The Morocco full-back picked out Bradley Barcola in space and he slammed the ball past Robert Sanchez.
The game then drifted fairly aimlessly until PSG made it three. Kvaratskhelia again got in behind the Chelsea defence. He tried to tee up Hakimi, but his shot was blocked. The ball, though, fell to substitute Senny Mayulu, who thumped the ball home. A night to remember for this exciting PSG side.
And there was a worrying sight in the final moments of the game when Trevoh Chalobah had to be taken off on a stretcher with what appeared to be a serious injury. A night to forget for Chelsea.
Cerys Jones, Tom Burrows and Simon Johnson discuss the main talking points.
Why are Chelsea conceding such soft goals?
It is far too easy to score against Chelsea at the moment. Rosenior said on TNT Sports ahead of the game that his side would need to be “near perfect” to turn this tie around; instead, their errors meant the game was dead within 15 minutes.
An injury to captain Reece James and illness for Malo Gusto saw 20-year-old Sarr make his Champions League debut. Marking Kvaratskhelia was not a gentle introduction.
After five minutes, PSG goalkeeper Safonov’s long ball isolated Sarr against Kvaratskhelia, and the defender’s failed attempt to control the ball just outside the Chelsea box saw Kvaratskhelia muscle around him and tuck the ball under Sanchez.
Fifteen minutes in, Chelsea were exposed again. As Caicedo tried to ping the ball forward to Cole Palmer, his attempt ricocheted off Santos and Zaire-Emery dribbled into Chelsea’s half. Caicedo could not recover in time to stop him from finding Hakimi on the overlap. He found Barcola, who swivelled and fired superbly into the top left.
No blue shirt was tracking Hakimi’s overlap, Jorrel Hato’s attempt to close him down created far too much space for Barcola, and even then, Kvaratskhelia was lurking unmarked at the back post.
Chelsea certainly missed James or Gusto in his place, and Sarr’s difficult night was reflected in him being replaced by Josh Acheampong at half-time. But the ease with which they were cut open, and their failure to deal with PSG’s speed, goes beyond one absence. It was no wonder that in the 37th minute, when Chelsea took an attacking throw-in in PSG’s half, they left four players back in defence. But it was too little, too late.
Cerys Jones
Kvaratskhelia unplayable
Much like the rest of Paris Saint-Germain’s squad this season, Kvaratskhelia has missed some games through injury. However, the forward made a telling impact in the first leg at the Parc des Princes, scoring twice and assisting another in a devastating 28-minute cameo.
That swung the tie from a finely poised 2-2 to 5-2, leaving Rosenior’s side with an uphill battle and insurmountable task.
Kvaratskhelia was rewarded for his fine performance in Paris with a start against Chelsea tonight, picked ahead of Desire Doue. At Stamford Bridge, he carried on where he left off, scoring the opening goal just six minutes into the contest.
In truth, that spelled the end of the contest.
A long punt down the pitch from PSG goalkeeper Safonov saw Kvaratskhelia spin Sarr, who managed to back heel the ball into the Georgian’s path, and he dragged the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot.
Hugging the left touchline, Kvaratskhelia, with his socks round his ankle, was a constant menace, scampering after lost balls and cutting inside on his customary mazy dribbles.
He gave Sarr, playing at right-back, a torrid first half, and the Senegalese was hooked at half-time, replaced by Acheampong.
Kvaratskhelia now has seven goals and four assists in Europe’s elite competition this season.
With PSG showing signs of returning to their fluent best over the two Chelsea games, their injury crisis seemingly behind them, and Kvaratskhelia terrorising defenders, they appear to have found form at the perfect time.
Tom Burrows
What does this say about the Chelsea ‘project’?
It has not been all smooth sailing for the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium era since taking over in 2022, but this goes down as their most humbling night.
The hierarchy were in attendance to see Chelsea’s slim hopes in the competition extinguished emphatically as PSG handed out the club’s joint heaviest Champions League defeat. Bayern Munich beat Frank Lampard’s side 7-1 on aggregate in the last 16 six years ago. By losing 8-2, it is the same six-goal margin, but conceding eight over two legs is a new low point.
Being back in the Champions League this season gave the club a real opportunity to measure themselves against Europe’s elite. While the Club World Cup win against PSG last July is considered the highlight of their reign so far, the Champions League holders have now issued a reality check.
PSG did not just end Chelsea’s hopes in the competition; they humiliated them in the process.
The first half was so one-sided that Chelsea fans started booing as their opponents passed the ball around with ease.
A chant for former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich rang out in all four stands, which was soon followed by a ditty uttered often in recent months, which begins “we don’t care about Clearlake, they don’t care about us”.
Chelsea suffered a humbling night (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
But perhaps more damning than all this was the fans voting with their feet when the third goal in, heading to the exits en masse. In contrast, the PSG contingent enjoyed a chorus of ‘oles’ in each half. Revenge for the Club World Cup certainly tasted sweet.
The substitutions made by Chelsea in the second half, clearly with Everton in the Premier League on Saturday in mind, were also greeted with jeers from the home support as they saw first-team regulars Enzo Fernandez, Palmer, Joao Pedro and Marc Cucurella all taken off. The white flag had been raised.
To add to the bitterness of the occasion for anyone of a Chelsea persuasion, England coach Thomas Tuchel was at the ground. He was in charge when the club last won the Champions League in 2021 and was dismissed four months after the new owners took over.
Despite the huge fortune spent on players over the last four years, Chelsea are no closer to being able to compete for the two biggest trophies – the Premier League, where they currently sit sixth in the table, and the Champions League.
Simon Johnson
What did Rosenior say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Chelsea?
Saturday, March 21: Everton (Away), Premier League, 5.30pm UK, 1.30pm ET