Chelsea vs PSG Prediction - How Will Mourinho Counter The French Side's Advantage?

Next Tuesday, Chelsea will go head-to-head with PSG at Stamford Bridge for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals. The Blues will have to put something very special next Tuesday if they want to move forward at this season’s major European competition. After the 3-1 defeat at the French capital last Wednesday, José Mourinho will have to rally his troops and provide some extra motivation to his players in order to recover their enthusiasm for the next clash against PSG. The English side put up an interesting performance during some periods of the match, but in the end they sucumbed to a more organized and less mistake-prone PSG side.

José Mourinho will have to reinvent his team’s midfield and forward lines for next Tuesday’s match. The lack of a truly advanced forward at Parc des Princes cost some depth to the team’s their game and the ability of holding PSG’s centre back duo back there in the field. The midfield line struggled because of the absence of Nemanja Matic, who is cup tied, and missed some enlightenment when building up the game from behind. David Luiz is definitely not an option to assume the role of a defensive midfielder efficiently. If Chelsea fails to fix these problems until the Stamford Bridge game, they will certainly not be able to grab anything positive from the match.

For next Tuesday’s clash, José Mourinho will probably still not be able to count on Samuel Eto’o, due to a hamstring problem, and on Ashley Cole, who is still recovering from a knee injury.

Paris Saint-Germain managed to achieve a somewhat “comfortable” result at home before their complicated visit to London. Laurent Blanc’s boys controlled the match and managed to have more ball possession and more attempts on goal than their opponents. Next Tuesday’s match will certainly be complicated for the French side, but if they manage to hold the predictable initial pressure applied by Chelsea, they will certainly grant a place in the next stage of the competition.

PSG’s star Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the London clash due to injury and Laurent Blanc is still not certain if he will be able to count on the presence of Dutch defender Gregory van der Wiel, who is not yet fully recovered from his knee injury.

Next Tuesday’s match will certainly be a close one and it may go either way; nevertheless, the main question seems to be if Mourinho, who is known by his “special” motivation skills, will be able to refurbish his players’ minds and guide them into an historical victory at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea

W-4 L-2 D-1

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Paris Saint-Germain

W-5 L-1 D-1

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Possible Line-ups

Chelsea (4-3-3) – Cech - Ivanovic - Cahill - Terry - Azpilicueta - Lampard - Ramires - Oscar - Hazard - Willian - Torres

Paris Saint-Germain  (4-3-3) – Sirigu - Jallet - Thiago Silva - Alex - Maxwell - Motta - Matuidi - Verratti - Lavezzi - Cavani - Lucas

Prediction: Chelsea 2 Paris Saint-Germain 1