Chelsea vs PSG: We've Done It Before

CL match winner Demba Ba. Let that sink in.

With some stumbles in recent weeks, notably to Villa and Palace, it was difficult to tell which Chelsea side would turn up at Stamford Bridge last night. Yes there was the emphatic win over Stoke, but Peter Crouch isn't exactly Edinson Cavani.

Two years ago Chelsea found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-1 away and a victory over Stoke before not only going on to beat Napoli but to only go on and win the whole bloody thing. Would luck favour them again or was it all used up against Barcelona and Munich?
With cup-tied Matic and naughty pants Ramires unavailable for Tuesday night, Mourinho put David Luiz back in central midfield alongside Frank Lampard. Luiz did a fantastic job of controlling the midfield even once Lampard went off and he was essentially left to his own devices. He continued his special relationship with Edinson Cavani, but didn't let it get the better of him or Mourinho's gameplan.

A light jog in his trackies for last minute tactics

Despite not training with the rest of the team, lurker fox in the box Samuel Eto'o, started up front possibly to poach an early goal, possibly just to annoy the bejesus out of Sirigu. And when Andre Schürrle was quickly summoned back from what was barely a warm up, there was some concern that it was for Eto'o who is just back from injury. However, it wasn't the stealth OAP that needed replacing, but Chelsea's little Belgian. He wasn't running circles around anyone skipping across the grass. Hazard was stood still in what I'd hoped was in a pensive moment considering the over zealous use of Torres' infamous razor. But it wasn't to be. Hazard's night was over and for some (just me) thought maybe the CL was over for another year.

However, it was Hazard's replacement Andre Schürrle that well and truly filled his teeny tiny boots. He only went and popped up for the first goal of the night thanks to some disastrous marking from PSG. He also stopped PSG's "ultras" from singing about getting a semi or something. The belief within the Chelsea faithful grew stronger than ever as "Champions of Europe, we've done this before" rang out from every corner of Stamford Bridge.

Of course, this is Chelsea which means it's not going to be straight forward. They like to make it as difficult for themselves as possible and only went and hit the crossbar 37 times in the second half. Frustration mounted but the game was still palpably in control. What was up Jose's sleeve to break down the resilient PSG defence? Well the one who claimed he had no strikers only went and put all three 'un-strikers' on at once.

For Arsenal supporters reading this - this is what going for it looks like. You have 10 minutes to go and nothing more to lose. You're out if you don't go and score another goal. Sod the shape, forget your pride and get as many attack minded players on as you can. After Chelsea's late winner, Laurent Blanc went for it to by completely foregoing a keeper in injury time and dipatching Sirigu in Chelsea's box. Fortune favours the brave - well, just in Mourinho's case this time, but you get the point.

With three strikers on the pitch, it stood to reason that Ivanovic would have been the man out there to pop up for a winner. Fans of irony be damned, it was one of Mourinho's un-strikers that managed to get it past a flailing Sirigu. In the buildup to one of the least attractive goals of the season, it looked like each of the forwards managed a touch before Demba Ba got the final touch. Which then resulted in a fantastic celebratory man pile and some interesting merriment from David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta.

This goal not only put Chelsea through to their 7th CL semi final in 11 seasons but it also answered something that plagued me from the time the teams came out of the tunnel. Jose Mourinho had abandoned his trousers and zip up dad jumpers in favour of a tracksuit and trainers. With this being an occasion a level up from Chelsea's trip to Swindon earlier this year it seemed perplexing he'd wear athletic gear. How was I to know it was for ease of his sprint down the entirety of the touchline to celebrate bestow tactics on Torres and Ba. Learning from previous touchline sprints he even accounted for his joyous run to the celebration at Gate 15.

Chelsea have now repeated their heroics from their 2012 deficit / Big Cup winning season to continue on the Road to Lisbon. It'll be difficult for any team to underestimate a manager who planned his wardrobe around the result and players who'll fight that hard for their manager - trackie bottoms and all.

jb x