Chelsea
will be heading into their UEFA Champions League second round tie with a
lot more confidence after this weekend than when the draw was made back in
December.The Blues had the weekend off to recover from Wednesday’s
89th-minute win over Everton at Stamford Bridge, whilst the FA Cup fifth round
took place.On Saturday evening, nine-man Paris Saint-Germain blew a late 2-0
lead to draw at home to Caen as Laurent Blanc’s side suffered four injuries.

Team News**Paris
Saint-Germain**

Yohan Cabaye, Marquinhos, Serge Aurier and Lucas Moura all limped off at the weekend,
although only Lucas is a regular in Blanc’s first team. Marquinhos has started
14 of PSG’s 25 Ligue 1 fixtures this season but only three in the Champions League, with David Luiz and Thiago Luiz the preferred option.Javier Pastore is also out injured for the defending French
champions.

Chelsea JoséMourinho’s side were late winners when these two met in the quarter-final last
season. His squad has been greatly improved this season and are currently seven
points clear at the top of the Premier League.Paris Saint-Germain dominated the French league last season but
head into Tuesday’s fixture in third position despite spending £50 million on
David Luiz from over the summer and not losing any key players.

The Portuguese manager only has John Obi Mikel ruled out, although
Oscar is a doubt, as Chelsea head into the first leg with a much healthier
squad.

Predicted Lineups

Lucas Moura would be a big loss for the hosts if he is not passed fit. However, the attacking trio they have in his place aren’t too shabby. Zlatan Ibrahimović has proven himself at the highest level over the years, Edinson Cavani is a top player and Ezequiel Lavezzi is targeted by a number of top teams as he is often a backup in Paris. They all know where they back of the net is. Laurent Blanc’s side play a 4-3-3 with three central midfielders. Blaise Matuidi offers a bundle of energy, Marco Verratti is a talent but very rarely involved in the goals and does give a few cheap fouls away in his own half. Thiago Motta is a talented and experienced protector of the back four. Mourinho will probably see David Luiz as a big vulnerability in the Paris Saint-Germain team and knows his game well. Gregory van der Wiel has not been in the best of form of late. He’s tasked with facing Eden Hazard.

Petr Čech started midweek as Thibaut Courtois has made a couple of errors of late. Mourinho did say he wanted
Čech’s experience to face Everton but we think he’ll retain his place for this
match. We’re going with the experienced Gary Cahill to start ahead of Kurt
Zouma too. Ramires to play alongside Nemanja Matić to protect the back
four whilst Cesc Fàbregas plays with the three attacking midfielders behind
Diego Costa.

**Key Matchups

Eden Hazard vs Gregory van der Wiel**

The Chelsea star is in a good place to put in a man of the match performance.
We’re assuming Serge Aurier doesn’t recover from his injury at the weekend and
that Gregory van der Wiel goes back into the starting XI. The Dutch right-back
has been a good player over the years but cannot be expected to be the big
attacking threat he has previously been whilst having the duties of keeping
Eden Hazard quiet. He’s also out of form of late so Hazard may tear him apart
at the Parc des Princes.

Diego Costa vs David Luiz

Few were in praise of David Luiz when he left Chelsea in the summer. Many
considered the Brazilian a liability for the Blues in the most competitive
football division in world football. Diego Costa hasn’t played for a few weeks
following his three-match ban. The Spanish striker is fully fit and his
movement should see him find space from the former Chelsea defender in the
middle of PSG’s defence with Luiz not being the best marker. Luiz is also poor
at marking from set pieces which is another area for Chelsea to take advantage
of.

Midfield vs. midfield - The midfield battle is always important to every match, but the dynamic of these two going head to head is fairly fascinating. On PSG's side, you've got three midfielders who, as a group, are stronger in defense than attack, but are certainly no slouch going forward, especially with Marco Verratti pinging passes around. For Chelsea, you've got the opposite - a bias towards attack, but plenty of ability when the Blues are out of possession, with Nemanja Matic in particular capable of stopping anything that comes near him. Any advantages one midfield get over the other in this match will be of the slimmest of margins, but will prove huge for the outcome.

Zlatan Ibrahimović vs Gary Cahill

Zlatan Ibrahimović’s record against English side‘s in
the Champions League is quite shabby with only three goals in 16 appearances,
and all of those goals coming against Arsenal. He only got 68 minutes over the
two legs last season due to injury. His threat shouldn’t be ignored as the
Swede provides moments of magic and goals out of nowhere. He should have decent
supply in this match, mainly from the wings.

Edinson Cavani vs Branislav Ivanovic - This might just be the single most intriguing one-on-one matchup on the pitch. Ivanovic has been an excellent fullback for Chelsea for some time now, but even in the Premier League it's rare for him to face a winger with even a modicum of the athleticism and power that Cavani possesses. Ivanovic is used to being able to overpower his opponents, but that won't be an option here. Cavani's going to do a lot of moving around as opposed to staying on the left, and if Ivanovic has one weakness, it's dealing with diagonal balls towards his marker.

Prediction:
Paris Saint-Germain 1-2 Chelsea

Neither side have been at their best in 2015 but we’re leaning towards Chelsea
to take a big advantage back with them to Stamford Bridge. Expecting José
Mourinho to have a game plan for his side to get the better of both David Luiz
and Gregory van der Wiel in particular , as well as set pieces. PSG haven’t
been convincing in their own league of late and should Lucas Moura not be fit
it’s a massive loss in creativity.

Not sure why line up photos did not come out

No Pastore, Marquinhos, Aurier and doubtful Matuidi & Lucas are giving Chelsea big advantage.

2-1 for Chelsea.

PSG's Achilles heal seem to be set pieces which is weird as most of the defenders not only play together in the club but also in the national team.. Just so happens that Chelsea are quit good at set pieces.. So a free kick-goal perhaps?

Also, I don't think Luiz will be able to mark Costa very well today and I also think that Hazard has many possibilities to shine.. As of PSG I'm most worried for Cavani today..

Some sources claims that Fabregas has caught the flu and that would be a huge set-back for Chelsea. If Fabregas plays, I think Chelsea narrowly might win this one. If he doesn't I'm going for a draw, 1-1.

Verratti predicts 0-4 ;)

^ LOL, Italians...

Just aim at Luiz, that's the dead point of PSG... beside all of those injuries. :D

PSG provoking on Twitter like last year...

@Netsten It's all part of the show just like Mourinho's press conferences. Just friendly banter to spice up the match :) As a neutral fan, I am so pumped for this match! I want to see some Ibra, Cesc and Hazard magic!

- "I don't want to say we are better or not better. I'm saying that we change the profile of our game, so I believe that tomorrow Parc des Princes will see a different Chelsea than last season." - Jose Mourinho

- PSG has yet to loose at home ground , but I think today might be the time to change that .

Few more stats , news updates .

Chelsea 2 - 0 PSG

Hazard
O.G David Luiz

Chelsea starting 11: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Diego Costa.

Paris Saint Germain starting 11 : Sirigu, Van der Wiel, Silva, Marquinhos, Maxwell, David Luiz, Verratti, Matuidi, Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic, Cavani .

David Luiz is playing deep lying defense mid position .

Chelsea bus crash on arrival at Parc des Princes.

@quikzyyytrololol! hahaha.

haterss

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2 things from first half performence, PSG sucks offensively, Zlatan and Lavezzi completely off form, Cavani and Verratti are the strongest link, David Luiz playing CDM ? Not working.
Chelsea defensively looks a little vulnerable, not far from conceding first, PSG scoring in second half wont be shocking, very good game from Hazard despite not being decisive on the chelsea goal.

1-1

Costa looked unfit. Maybe the rest during the ban was not the best thing. I was very impressed with Matuidi, Verratti and Cavani. Strong Performance from Courtois!! Ibrah so close to score the winner twice.