Paris Saint-Germain vs Chelsea – UEFA Champions League – Preview

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Sreya

The UEFA Champions League returns on Tuesday, 16th February with Chelsea travelling to Parc des Princes to face Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Round of 16 fixture. It is an extremely significant match, not just because of the might of the two clubs involved, but also because winning Europe’s premier competition is the only manner in which Chelsea could return to the Champions League next season.

Chelsea continued their unbeaten run under Guus Hiddink with a 5-1 win over Newcastle United this past Saturday, while Paris Saint-Germain played out a 0-0 draw with Lille on Friday.

Team News

Serge Aurier has been suspended by the club after his social media posts against the manager and his teammates. Paris Saint-Germain had chosen to rest quite a few first teamers for their league fixture against Lille, but Laurent Blanc is expected to choose his first eleven on Tuesday.

Falcao, John Terry, Kurt Zouma and Nemanja Matic are the confirmed absentees for the visitors – the first three due to injuries and Matic due to a suspension. John Terry limped off the pitch with an ankle injury on Saturday and has not traveled with the squad. Branislav Ivanovic is likely to move into central defense alongside Gary Cahill, while Cesar Azpilicueta and Baba Rahman slot in at the fullback positions.

Paris Saint-Germain Possible Starting Lineup: Kevin Trapp, Gregory van der Wiel, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Maxwell, Javier Pastore, Marco Veratti, Blaise Matuidi, Lucas Moura, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Angel di Maria.

Chelsea Possible Starting Lineup: Thibaut Courtois, Branislav Ivanovic, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Cesar Azpilicueta, John Obi Mikel, Nemanja Matic, Willian, Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard, Diego Costa.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, the previous six encounters between these two sides have resulted in two wins for Chelsea and one win for Paris Saint-Germain, with the last three matches ending in scoring draws.

While Chelsea have won their last three Champions League fixtures, Paris Saint-Germain have kept a clean sheet in five of their last six Champions League matches. It should be a closely contested affair, but the home side will be the favorites, with a 2-1 result in favor of the Parisian club being the most probable outcome.

“We have a very difficult and important game in Paris – we have to get a good result there if we want to pass this stage so we will give our best and try to play like a team like we did on Saturday. I’m sure we can score some goals there also.”

– Nemanja Matic, Chelsea.