A stoppage time goal from Javier Pastore in the first leg of the Champions League quarter final between Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Chelsea at the Parc des Princes a week ago, has given the French champions a valuable cushion heading into today’s encounter at Stamford Bridge in London.
A stoppage time goal from Javier Pastore in the first leg of the Champions League quarter final between Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Chelsea at the Parc des Princes a week ago, has given the French champions a valuable cushion heading into today’s encounter at Stamford Bridge in London.
Facing a 2-1 deficit at home may not have seemed like so much of a mountain to climb for the former European champions, but that late strike which made it 3-1 to PSG now means Jose Mourinho’s men need to keep a clean sheet today if they hope to advance to the final four.
Mourinho has been openly critical of the strike force that he has available to him but will need to get the best out of them in order to secure passage to the next round. He will be hoping to have Samuel Eto available for the game today. The Cameroon international has missed his team’s last three games due to injury.
While Zlatan Ibrahimovic is unavailable due to injury for PSG, they showed in the first leg that they are capable of getting the job done without him, so him absence does not diminish the threat of Lauren Blanc’s team.
Blanc has promised that his team will attack Chelsea at the ‘Bridge’ and this may just add to the pressure the ‘Blues’ face.
Mourinho prefers to play a counterattacking style of football but he will not have that option available to him today with his team needing to overcome a two goal deficit to advance. This should make for exciting football in the English capital with the Portuguese hunting the one trophy that eluded him in his first stint in charge at the club.
Mourinho was quoted as say “I think we are going to win, really. In the end of two legs I think we are going to score more goals than them.”
The ‘Happy One’ will have to transfer this confidence to his players to overcome this huge challenge they face at home.
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