PSG’s third goal in stoppage time at the Parc des Princes certainly made ChelseaÂ’s task of reaching the Champions League semi-finals a lot tougher than it should have been and Jose Mourinho had every right to call it a ‘jokeÂ’.
A lot of Chelsea fans seem to have already given up on reaching the semi-finals – but it is by no means impossible, especially after a much-needed, convincing win against Stoke City.
It was just over two years ago, when the referee blew his whistle to kick-off the second leg between Chelsea and Napoli at Stamford Bridge, after we had lost the first leg by three goals to one and Roberto Di Matteo had just taken over from André Villas-Boas.
Hardly ideal circumstances, but we still managed to pull off one of the finest Champions League performances in our history, on a night Chelsea fans will never forget.
On Tuesday we face PSG under completely different circumstances. This season we have a team full of young players, hungry for success. A team which has been fighting for domestic glory all season, under the best manager in the world.
Of course we can no longer rely on our talisman Didier Drogba to carry us through to the competition, but there are plenty of other players who are more than capable of taking on that job.
You canÂ’t tell me, with the quality we have in our squad, that we canÂ’t score at least two goals against PSG, especially at home. We all know Champions League nights at Stamford Bridge are rather special and the fans will be right behind the team.
If you cast your minds back on the first leg, PSG only really threatened us for about 20-25 minutes of the game. Most of the time we were our own worst enemy. Their defence looked far from comfortable, which should give us encouragement to really attack them right from the start.
In my opinion Willian has to start in the number 10 role, his work-rate is second to none and his quick feet will cause havoc. Andre Schurrle should come in for cup-tied Mohamed Salah, with Eden Hazard attacking on the left.
Of course the striking position is still a major issue this season and – unless Samuel Eto’o has made a miraculous recovery – it will once again be Fernando Torres leading the line. If there was ever a game to win back the trust of his manager and fans, it’s this one.
Jose Mourinho will know exactly what to tell his players and he will make them believe that we can go through. Believe, thatÂ’s all we can do.
