For all the talk of English dominance in this season’s edition of the Champions League, the balance of power has tilted towards equilibrium over the past two nights. No winners on Tuesday night in the Premier League; the same 24 hours later.
Tottenham suffering an emphatic 5-2 defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid, turns out Igor Tudor’s men were inadvertently acting as trendsetters. Their crosstown rivals Chelsea then being handed the same-sized defeat by Champions League holders PSG a day later.
Wednesday night pitted the kings of Europe versus last year’s Club World Cup winners. The first of a two-legged clash across continental boundaries. A place in the last eight of the Champions League serves as the eventual prize.
A prize that Luis Enrique’s men now have one hand on after a scintillating display at the Parc des Princes. A display that was started by Bradley Barcola in just the 10th minute of the game. His shot powered into the net after receiving the ball from an Ousmane Dembele cross.
First blood to the French giants, but there would be parity in the game before the half-hour mark. Malo Gusto with the equaliser, his shot cannoning past a nervy Matvei Safonov in the PSG goal.
That was not the end of the scoring before the break though. Ousmane Dembele going from provider to goalscorer with five minutes of the first half remaining. The former Barcelona forward outpaced Chelsea’s Wesley Fofana and provided a composed finish to put the hosts back in front.
2-1 at the break, 2-2 just 12 minutes after the restart. Enzo Fernandez levelling the scores for the second time, the Argentinian midfielder timing his movement perfectly in order to connect with Pedro Neto’s cross.
Luis Enrique and Liam Rosenior with experience of going toe-to-toe with each other in Ligue 1, they were saving their haymakers for the grandest stage of them all and just like we saw in Madrid the previous night, you do not want to make goalkeeping mistakes on the grandest stage.
Chelsea’s number one has been a sore point of debate in recent weeks, Robert Sanchez not the man to lead the Blues forward and on the evidence of his Parisian performance, neither is Filip Jorgensen. His costly error put PSG ahead for the third time in this entertaining encounter.
A misplaced pass landed straight at opening scorer Bradley Barcola, his subsequent pass fell at the feet of Vitinha. The midfielder’s exquisite lob leaving Jorgensen stranded and the home support in a state of rapture.
3-2 to PSG and still time for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to make another Champions League impact. The Georgian coming off the bench to add to Chelsea’s woe late on. His double in the last five minutes of the game giving he and his teammates a three-goal lead to take to Stamford Bridge next week.
A fascinating game and the latest blow for the Premier League in terms of their European endeavour. On the evidence of what we saw on Wednesday night, PSG look like they are timing their defence of the Champions League to perfection.
