Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored one and set up another as Paris Saint-Germain beat Chelsea 2-1 (4-2 on aggregate) to knock the Blues out of the Champions League for the second year running.
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Nicolas Gaitan cancelled out Hulk’s opener on the night five minutes from time to leave Zenit stunned, and substitute Talisca won the match with the very last kick in Saint Petersburg to claim a 3-1 aggregate win.
Chelsea’s supporters gave Eden Hazard, who has been linked with PSG, a mixed reception when he limped off with a hip injury late in the match.
Although Chelsea conceded in the 16th minute when Ibrahimovic’s cross was turned in by Adrien Rabiot, Diego Costa levelled 11 minutes later on his return from injury.
Ibrahimovic is out of contract at the end of the current campaign and, with PSG virtually assured of retaining their Ligue 1 title, the 34-year-old is eyeing further improvement for them to challenge for the European crown in what could be a glorious send off. “He scored the decisive goal and laid on an assist”.
Hiddink s side came close to making light of Costa s departure, but Trapp produced a sharp double-save to thwart Willian and then Hazard, and within two minutes the tie was over.
“In France we are doing the maximum we can do but the Champions League is the next step for us”.
Palace’s FA Cup win at Tottenham in the fifth round was a rare bright moment, with the London club enduring a 12-game winless run in the league.
His easy finish from Angel di Maria great pass on 67 minutes ensured passage for PSG into the quarter-finals of the competition, where a draw will be made to identify the next opponents that Benfica and PSG will face in the last eight.
Laurent Blanc’s side have now qualified for the quarter-final stage of the Champions League for the fourth consecutive year.
The influence he can have on a game is undeniable, and history suggests he can pick the lock if you allow him to. “I must pay my respect to him because he desperately wanted to play in this very good game”.
“Chelsea have a lot of pace up front and do not always want the ball”. – Ray Hudson (@rayhudson), former Newcastle player and US TV commentator.
“I thought both of PSG’s goal last night were down to really poor defending, you can nearly blame the whole back four”, he told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast. “The team is young and has not played together so long in comparison to other sides. We’ll see tomorrow. I don’t know if it’s worse than before the Stoke game”.
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“Of course when you lose a game the fans are not happy and they have to be like that, but in my opinion it was one of his best performances so far”.
