{"id":48979,"date":"2026-03-18T07:03:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=48979"},"modified":"2026-03-18T07:03:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:03:05","slug":"psg-condemn-chelsea-to-humiliating-champions-league-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2026\/03\/18\/psg-condemn-chelsea-to-humiliating-champions-league-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"PSG condemn Chelsea to humiliating Champions League exit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chelsea huddled once and, as if in an act of resistance, huddled again. They gathered on either side of the centre-circle before kick-off, apparently impervious to the kerfuffle that had followed their weekend antics, and it was the biggest fight they put up on a night that laid bare their distance from Europe\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resounding Club World Cup win\u00a0against Paris Saint-Germain was nothing more than a stateside summer fever dream: here, on the stage that really matters, they were humbled by opponents who belonged on a different pitch from the start.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years ago PSG put their faith in Luis Enrique, gave him a supreme array of young talent and watched the fruit bloom. It has taken lavish investment, following no small number of missteps, but this is a side with a shot at genuine greatness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast it would be a huge stretch to suggest BlueCo\u2019s expensive Chelsea project is going well: in this company Liam Rosenior\u2019s team looked thoroughly insubstantial and questions may soon be asked about the robustness of the head coach, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The booing that greeted Rosenior\u2019s substitutions was an eye-opener and he must quickly change the course of a tenure that, from promising beginnings, is beginning to spiral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is, of course, a time\u2011\u00adhonoured story in these parts. Equally con\u00adcerning is the modern Chelsea\u2019s inability to generate any real \u00adfeeling, their endeavours resembling the \u00ad<\/sup>sterile shuffling-around of laboratory parts. A previous incarnation could have fancied their chances of \u00adreversing a three-goal deficit and outdoing the heroic overhauling of Napoli<\/a> here, almost 14 years ago to the day, that paved the way to \u00adChampions League glory. This time it just never felt on, an enthusiastic but skittish start quickly deteriorating into an evening that fell away fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA really difficult one to take,\u201d Rosenior said. \u201cIf you give the opposition flow and momentum without having to work too hard, they get more confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PSG\u2019s belief was certainly sky high when, after Jo\u00e3o Pedro had conceded a cheap free-kick outside their box, the goalkeeper, Matvei Safonov hit a long ball that Mamadou Sarr miscontrolled horribly. Sarr had been bothered by the proximity of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who zoomed away and drove an unfussy finish across Robert S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was rotten luck for Sarr, deployed out of position at right\u2011back in the absences of Reece James and Malo Gusto. His first Champions League<\/a>appearance was terminated at half\u2011time, Josh Acheampong coming on to end his discomfort, and by then PSG had long since streaked further clear. Bradley Barcola\u2019s finish, hit from 20 yards into S\u00e1nchez\u2019s top corner with no backlift, was a thing of wonder but PSG had been allowed to counterattack when another muddled Chelsea move ended with Mois\u00e9s Caicedo thudding the ball against Andrey Santos in midfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Liam<\/a>
Liam Rosenior cut a frustrated figure as Chelsea toiled against the defending European champions. Photograph: Andy Rain\/EPA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Achraf Hakimi had laid on the \u00adglimmer, in truth not even a half\u2011chance, for Barcola. What \u00adChelsea would give for competitors of such brio and presence. As a pro\u00adcessional second half dragged on the fortunes of Hakimi and Sarr, opponents at the Africa Cup of Nations final in January, would diverge again when Morocco were stunningly awarded victory<\/a> over Senegal in a match they had lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea had no need to wait two months for their fate. They worked Safonov semi-regularly, notably through Cole Palmer and Jorrel Hato, but clear opportunities were few. \u201cWe have to learn to be \u00adclinical at this level,\u201d Rosenior said. PSG certainly were when, just after the hour, the substitute Senny Mayulu blasted in first-time after the latest Kvaratskhelia-led break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosenior drew audible ire for his own changes, not least when Palmer, Jo\u00e3o Pedro and Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez were withdrawn just before that goal. He pointed to the constant struggle to manage players\u2019 pitch time, a \u00adseason\u2011long byproduct of that quest for Fifa\u2019s new toy in July. \u201cI have to make really difficult decisions that probably, at the time, don\u2019t look great, to be honest,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I want to make the right decisions for the football club.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No amount of minding the numbers could prevent a concerning late injury to Trevoh Chalobah, who departed on a stretcher five minutes from the end with what, according to Rosenior, was \u201ca high ankle sprain\u201d. Chelsea do not need any more absentees. \u201cI think he was really worried, we\u2019ll scan and assess him but we\u2019re hoping and praying it wasn\u2019t as bad as first thought,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor can Chelsea do with the kind of fire lit by Fern\u00e1ndez in an interview with Argentinian TV after the game. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said when asked about his future. \u201cThere are eight games left and the FA Cup. There\u2019s the World Cup and then we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time will tell whether that statement was consequential. The one PSG produced was enough for one night; meanwhile the soap opera in west London meanders on with \u00adlittle chance of any swift, satisfactory conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chelsea huddled once and, as if in an act of resistance, huddled again. They gathered on either side of the centre-circle before kick-off, apparently impervious to the kerfuffle that had followed their weekend antics, and it was the biggest fight they put up on a night that laid bare their distance from Europe\u2019s elite. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":22440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3295],"tags":[1648,9282,1911,8924,169,1279,8908,5262,10427,6621,9505,8123,5984,7319,5272,5500,6159,5247,5869,3577,7090,803,11294,11493,9343,5205,3684,10634,8873,8126,10481,5457,516,12085,2291,1253,1721,1565,13256,642,10716,7963,9230,1749,11259,9271,7333,7419,146,10885,12790,2178,10415,36,5248,594,5140],"class_list":["post-48979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-sport","tag-africa","tag-andrey-santos","tag-champions-league","tag-chance","tag-chelsea","tag-circle","tag-coach","tag-cut","tag-epa","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-eye","tag-fa-cup","tag-fern","tag-fever","tag-fifa","tag-fire","tag-football","tag-football-club","tag-future","tag-games","tag-goalkeeper","tag-injury","tag-interview","tag-investment","tag-july","tag-london","tag-lost","tag-luis-enrique","tag-match","tag-midfield","tag-morocco","tag-napoli","tag-nations","tag-palmer","tag-paris","tag-paris-saint-germain","tag-pedro","tag-players","tag-psg","tag-rain","tag-saint","tag-santos","tag-senegal","tag-shot","tag-sky","tag-summer","tag-the-game","tag-truth","tag-victory","tag-weekend","tag-west-london","tag-work","tag-world","tag-world-cup","tag-who","tag-young"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48980,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48979\/revisions\/48980"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}