PSG condemn Chelsea to joint-heaviest UCL loss


Chelsea's interest in the Champions League came to a sobering end as Paris Saint-Germain won 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to dump the Blues out 8-2 on aggregate in the last 16.

It was a merciless display of clinical finishing from the holders as they built on last week's pummelling in the Parc des Princes to send the home side to their joint-heaviest aggregate defeat in Europe.

As in the first leg, Liam Rosenior's side were undone by their own careless mistakes and a moment of breathtaking PSG quality.

Mamadou Sarr, making his debut in the competition, made a horrible error after six minutes, failing to control a long punt forward and allowing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in to open the scoring. It was a costly blunder on only the defender's fifth appearance since returning to the club.

If that all but ended the tie, there could be no doubting it after 14 minutes when Bradley Barcola was left alone on the edge of the box to flick the ball up and fire in an outrageous finish.

It was a memorable goal but Chelsea had made things harder for themselves. Trevoh Chalobah was standing nowhere near Barcola when the ball arrived while Moisés Caicedo had given possession away cheaply in midfield.

Senny Mayulu celebrates scoring Paris Saint-Germain's third goal against Chelsea.
Senny Mayulu celebrates scoring Paris Saint-Germain's third goal against Chelsea.
Eddie Keogh - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

France under-21 international Senny Mayulu came off the bench and capped a wretched week for Chelsea with PSG's third of the night, a lovely strike from the emerging 19-year-old midfielder.

Chelsea were without the injured Reece James and Malo Gusto and in their absence the defence looked nervous and ramshackle.

They had barely settled before a mammoth task was made insurmountable. Matvei Safonov's long ball should have been a simple enough clearance for Sarr, but the player brought back by Rosenior from a loan spell at his former club Strasbourg mis-controlled and allowed Kvaratskhelia to brush past him to finish into the corner.

That ended whatever hope the Blues had of unnerving the holders and threatening their aggregate lead with an early goal of their own. Soon the tie was over as a contest.

Caicedo gave the ball away and in a flash PSG were away down the right. Achraf Hakimi knocked it back inside to Barcola, Chalobah had abandoned his marking duties, allowing Barcola to flick the ball up and thump a brilliant finish into the top corner.

The hosts finally threatened when João Pedro outmuscled Willian Pacho but was denied by Safonov, who rescued his team again when Cole Palmer's low effort looked to be bound for the corner. The Russian made it a quick-fire trio of stops with an athletic reach to keep out Jorrel Hato's header.

The withdrawal of João Pedro and Palmer just before the hour mark felt like Chelsea were waving the white flag.

There would be further humiliation moments later though when Mayulu blasted in PSG's eighth goal of the tie, prompting a walk-out from supporters.

Not since Bayern Munich beat their team 7-1 over two legs in 2020 had they seen a defeat this heavy. The stadium would empty steadily throughout the final 30 minutes.

Liam Delap and Alejandro Garnacho gave Safonov chance to add to his showreel of stops in the closing stages, but Chelsea's candle was long extinguished.