The Belgian has been a shadow of the player who was crowned last season’s player of the year. That goal proved to be the decider and Chelsea could not come back into the match.
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Goals from Adrien Rabiot and Zlatan Ibrahimovic secured a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge and 4-2 aggregate victory for PSG despite the best efforts of Diego Costa, who scored for Chelsea in the first half before limping from the field with a tendon injury after the break.
Languishing in 10th place in the Premier League, Chelsea will nearly certainly miss the Champions League next season for the first time since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003.
Hazard has scored just two FA Cup goals this season and failed to shine again against Paris St-Germain, the team he is tipped to join this summer.
However Ivanovic believes Chelsea can immediately bounce back next season and return to the top four despite the strength of the Premier League.
Last night, until PSG’s tie-settling goal, this Chelsea group showed a lot of grit, something that we haven’t seen very often this season.
PSG shot into the lead in Wednesday’s game after 16 minutes and Rabiot was the scorer, sliding in front of Azpilicueta to meet an inviting low Ibrahimovic cross at the far post. “I’m not saying the team with the most possession wins matches, but it does allow you to impose yourself on the game”.
Hiddink added: “Diego was desperate to play, although not 100 per cent fit”.
Blanc praised Di Maria and Ibrahimovic for their performances.
Hiddink confirmed both players will be assessed by the club’s medical staff at Chelsea’s training ground on Thursday to see if they stand a chance of playing at Goodison Park.
Keane’s contempt for Eden Hazard exchanging jerseys with Angel Di Maria at the break is a joy to watch. “He can adapt himself, also through his big personality, in any league in Europe”.
However, Ivanovic says the 25-year-old went into the game carrying an injury, which has made him a doubt with a leg problem for Chelsea’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Everton on Saturday.
“In France we are doing the maximum we can do but the Champions League is the next step for us”. They never knew where he was, but we always knew where to find him with the ball.
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“I’m looking at that Chelsea team last night and thinking, if they get rid of John Terry they’ve got to buy two top class central defenders to replace him, and [after last night’s performance] they probably need to buy two full-backs as well”.
