The Silva lining: Paris delight as Mourinho and Chelsea Blanc out

2-2 draw enough for PSG to go through on away goals, despite Ibrahimovic’s early red.

MUNICH/ LONDON:

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc declared that his team had “joined the big boys” after their potentially transformative victory over Chelsea in the Champions League last 16.

PSG overcame daunting odds at the Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, losing Zlatan Ibrahimovic to a contentious first-half red card and twice falling behind, only to draw level first through centre-backs David Luiz, the former Chelsea player, and then through captain Thiago Silva.

Silva’s looping header, six minutes from the end of extra time, made the score 2-2 on the night and 3-3 on aggregate, taking PSG through on away goals, 11 months after they had lost to Chelsea by the same rule in the quarter-finals following another 3-3 draw.

“PSG really want to join the big boys and I think we did that. I think the match will be a reference for the club for years to come,” said Blanc. “I know things go quickly. We’ll try to appreciate this victory, this qualification. Then there’ll be the draw for the quarter-finals and the pressure.”

PSG’s qualification for the quarter-finals represented their first Champions League knockout-phase success against a European heavyweight since Qatar Sports Investment acquired the club in 2011 and president Nasser alKhelaifi said it was a breakthrough moment.

“It’s magnificent, historic for us,” he told beIN Sports. “Thank you to Laurent Blanc, thank you to the players. And thank you to the supporters. We felt like we were at home.”

In a spiky, ill-tempered match, an 81st-minute goal by Gary Cahill left Chelsea on the brink of the last eight, only for Luiz to equalise with an emphatic header five minutes later.

Silva conceded a penalty for handball that allowed Eden Hazard to restore Chelsea’s lead early in extra time, but then atoned with the goal that sent the French champions through.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho accepted Blanc’s assertion that the better team had won and the only sour points for the victors were Ibrahimovic’s dismissal and a booking for Marco Verratti that will keep him out of the first leg of the quarter-final.

Ibrahimovic was shown a straight red card in the 32nd minute by Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers after catching Oscar in a 50-50 challenge and Blanc called on European governing body UEFA to rescind the Swede’s dismissal.

“There’s a committee that will convene to look at what happened and I hope they’re not too strict,” he said. “I hope Ibra can be with us in the quarter-finals.”

Mourinho, who coached Ibrahimovic at Inter Milan, echoed Blanc’s words about the sending-off, but complained that Diego Costa should have been awarded a first-half penalty for a foul by Edinson Cavani.

“It was a clear penalty on Diego Costa and, once more, I think it’s a waste of time and money to have the officials on the side of the goal because they do nothing,” he said.

Bayern rout Shakhtar 7-0

It was a much more one-sided affair in Germany as Bayern Munich qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-0 rout of 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk.

After playing out a drab goalless draw in the first leg in Ukraine, Bayern made no such mistake against a Shakhtar side reduced to 10 men in just the third minute.

Shaktar’s horrendous start to the match saw Olexander Kucher bring down Mario Goetze inside the box, giving away a penalty and earning himself a red card in the process.

The sending off heralded a game of almost complete domination from the Germans, who scored seven goals without reply and could have had several more as they made their numerical advantage count.

Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, however, wanted to take nothing away from his players. “We’re very happy, it’s a well-deserved victory,” said Guardiola. “Of course, some will say it was easier for us playing 11 against 10 but it’s not true.”

Meanwhile, Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu admitted his side had come up short on all fronts after Kucher’s dismissal. “The red card was unfair. From then on we couldn’t play our game as planned. We lost out in all areas. They were stronger all round,” he said. “The match was over for us after 3-0.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, March  13^th,  2015.

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