Chelsea crashed out of Europe in painful fashion as Paris St-Germain sealed an 8-2 aggregate victory with a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge, leaving home fans angry and disillusioned after one of the club’s worst nights on the continental stage.
PSG, the reigning European champions, struck early and never looked back. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring inside six minutes after hesitant defending from Mamadou Sarr allowed him to pounce and fire a low left-footed shot into the net. Bradley Barcola then made it 2-0 in the 14th minute, finishing brilliantly after Chelsea lost possession in midfield, taking the ball with his weaker left foot before smashing a half-volley into the top corner.
That second goal killed the tie as a contest, even though Chelsea continued to attack. Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Pedro Neto and Trevoh Chalobah all helped create pressure, while Joao Pedro, Palmer and Jorrel Hato forced openings that could not be turned into goals. But Chelsea’s push forward kept leaving space behind, and PSG repeatedly threatened on the break through Kvaratskhelia and Barcola.
The mood inside Stamford Bridge turned toxic. Chelsea were booed off at half-time, with chants for former owner Roman Abramovich and others aimed at the current ownership in the directors’ box. Head coach Liam Rosenior responded by replacing Sarr with academy graduate Josh Acheampong at the break, but the changes did little to shift momentum.
Joao Pedro went close again in the 56th minute, but Rosenior soon withdrew Palmer, Fernandez and Joao Pedro, a move that seemed to signal the end of Chelsea’s resistance. Substitute Liam Delap had a close-range effort saved before 19-year-old Senny Mayulu curled in a superb third goal from just inside the box to deepen Chelsea’s misery.
The closing stages brought more bad news when Chalobah was stretchered off, forcing Chelsea to finish with 10 men. Rosenior later confirmed the defender had suffered a “high ankle sprain” and said he was “praying it’s nothing too serious because we can’t lose another defender”.
Afterwards, Rosenior acknowledged the anger of supporters. “This is a fantastic football club where the fans want success instantly and that’s rightfully so for the size of the club,” he said. “I understand because of the aggregate scoreline in the tie why fans are frustrated. They want us to win. So, I completely get it and I understood that before I came in.
“I also want to make them happy and give them the nights they deserve. Not just me, but us as a group, as a team. That was a really difficult one to take because of the manner in which we went out this evening.”
PSG now move on to face either Liverpool or Galatasaray in the quarter-finals.
