Paris Saint-Germain snuffed out any chance of a Chelsea comeback with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia among the scorers in a clinical 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, March 17, which took the holders through to the Champions League quarter-finals 8-2 on aggregate.
The Georgian’s early opener was soon followed by a brilliant Bradley Barcola strike, quickly ending Chelsea’s hopes of turning around their 5-2 deficit from the first leg of the last 16 tie last week. Substitute Senny Mayulu then fired in PSG’s third in the second half, as Luis Enrique’s men march on to a last-eight fixture next month against either Liverpool or Galatasaray. The Turkish side heads to Anfield with a 1-0 first-leg advantage on Wednesday.
“It is amazing. To score three goals away against Chelsea is good and the important thing is that we continue to play very well, so we have to keep going like this,” Kvaratskhelia told broadcaster Canal Plus.
PSG’s dream of retaining the Champions League title remains very much alive, a year after winning the trophy for the first time in their history. The Qatar-backed side’s victory gives them revenge for their loss to the Blues in last July’s Club World Cup final, and indicates that they might be finding their very best form again at just the right time.
Enrique gave a start to Kvaratskhelia after he came off the bench to score a late double in Paris. The Parisians also made the trip feeling fresher after their scheduled weekend Ligue 1 game against Nantes was called off to aid their preparations.
Meanwhile, Chelsea never really appeared to believe they could come back from their collapse six days ago at the Parc des Princes, when Liam Rosenior’s team conceded three late goals to go from 2-2 to 5-2 down.