Two weeks after overcoming AS Monaco in the play-offs, Paris Saint-Germain returned to the Champions League and the Parc des Princes for the first leg of the round of 16 and a showdown against a formidable and familiar opponent in the form of Chelsea, seeded after finishing in the top eight in the league phase. Bursting out of the blocks, propelled by a white-hot crowd in the Parc des Princes, the Parisians quickly took the lead, with Bradley Barcola opening the scoring with a powerful left-footed shot from a João Neves assist (1-0, 10’)!
The Parc was back on its feet five minutes later when Ousmane Dembélé made space in the opposition's box and unleashed a ferocious shot that was saved onto the post by Filip Jörgensen in the Blues’ goal (15'). It was then Chelsea's turn to make several forays into the Parisian box, relying in particular on João Pedro and the speed of Pedro Neto. From a throw-in, a switch in play found Malo Gusto with time and space to equalise just before the half-hour mark with a right-footed strike (1-1, 28').
These two resolutely attacking sides traded blows. But it was the capital club that took the lead thanks to a supersonic counter-attack led by Ousmane Dembélé, who was perfectly released by Désiré Doué. The Paris No.10 beat Wesley Fofana before firing across Jörgensen and into the net (2-1, 40'), as Les Rouge et Bleu headed to the break with a one-goal lead!
At the start of the second half, the Parisians had more of the ball, however, it was the Blues who managed to find the back of the net again through Enzo Fernandez, who finished off a Pedro Neto raid down the left wing just before the hour mark (2-2, 57'). Once again, Luis Enrique's men had to dig deep to try and get back in front of their tenacious opposition. With a quarter of an hour to go, Bradley Barcola won the ball back from the opposition goalkeeper, allowing Vitinha to put Paris back in front with a delightful lob (3-2, 74').
This time, the capital club had no intention of letting Chelsea back into the game. On the contrary, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s thunderous introduction off the bench gave Paris a two-goal lead with a superb right-footed strike that left Jörgensen with no chance (4-2, 86'). Better still, the Georgian winger took advantage of a combination between Achraf Hakimi and Lee Kang-In to get on the end of a cross and score a final goal for Les Rouge et Bleu (5-2, 90+4)!
It was the icing on the cake for Paris Saint-Germain, who enjoyed an intense finish to a spectacular first leg match. It bodes well for next Tuesday's difficult trip across the Channel for the match at Stamford Bridge at 21:00 CET. You won’t want to miss it!
