French side Paris St-Germain (PSG) edged out Chelsea 2-1 in Tuesday night’s first leg champions league last-16 match.
Edinson Cavani came off the bench to give Paris St-Germain the winner in the 78th minute after Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s deflected free-kick had put the hosts ahead in the 39th minute.
But the Blues will still be happy about this result after John Mikel scored a precious away goal in injury time of the first half. It was the Nigerian’s sixth goal for Chelsea in almost a decade he has been with the club.
That away goal, keeps Chelsea very much in contention for a quarter final place ahead of the return tie at Stamford Bridge on March 9.
The Blues look likely to put all their efforts in the Champions league as their hopes of doing well in the domestic front are almost gone.
It is worth noting that this is the third time that PSG and Chelsea have been drawn against each in the last 16 and the previous matches were decided on away goals which looks like it will be repeated once again this time around.
In 2014, the English side lost the first leg 3-1 but still progressed though it is worth noting that then, the Blues were a more formidable side. This time around, the Blues are a pale shadow of themselves and had to fire former coach Jose Mourinho for poor results.
The French side have had more success on the pitch and are currently perched at the top of Ligue 1. PSG have gone 44 matches un-beaten.
Brazillian Jonas headed home to give Benfica a 1-0 win over Zenit St-Petersburg in another round of 16 match on Tuesday.
Jonas’s goal- his 25th of the season came after Zenit defender Domenico Criscito had been sent off for a second booking.