Chelsea Facing PSG for 3rd Time Running: Revenge and the Rubber Match

Getty Images If once is an accident, if doubly is a traffic pattern and thrice a swerve, whatever is happening with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain has reached some eminence of competition. For the third gear consecutive season—and second straight year in the UEFA Champions League ‘s round off of 16—a group-winning west London side have been paired with arguably the toughest second-place equip, Ligue 1 ‘s dominant coerce, PSG.

Reading: Chelsea Facing PSG for 3rd Time Running: Revenge and the Rubber Match

In 2013/14, coach Jose Mourinho, after closely 120 minutes of fraught football, sprinted down his touchline following Demba Ba ‘s recently heroics, and the Blues found themselves in the UCL semi-finals . ADRIAN DENNIS/Getty Images One hundred and fifty dollar bill minutes of football was necessary to split the 2014/15 meet, with David Luiz and Thiago Silva away goals proving enough to secure progression into the quarter-finals ( despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic being red-carded ). Meeting again, both as champions of their respective leagues, this season has an all in all different tonicity than the previous two. Paris Saint-Germain are unbeaten in Ligue 1. Laurent Blanc ‘s men have played 18 league matches and boast an impressive 15-3-0 read, building a finish deviation of 36. Adding Angel Di Maria in the summer transfer window from Manchester United, at the price of £44 million, an argument could be made this PSG version are vastly improved from final year—the lapp can not be said across the English Channel .Video Play Button

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JUSTIN TALLIS/Getty Images Chelsea are languishing. Nearer delegating than mid-table, near mid-table then challenging for their peak, the Premier League ‘s defending champions are—putting it kindly—shambolic. Sixteenth in England ‘s top division, one point from the bottom three, what is transpiring at Stamford Bridge this temper can not be easily explained nor just solved. Rising from the depths of delegating to the top four seems an Everest to climb. Ever increasingly, Mourinho ‘s best luck of retaining his clubhouse ‘s Champions League stead is winning the competition outright. Though not under the Portuguese ‘s stewardship, Chelsea did something similar in 2011/12. Finishing outside the clear four for the first gear clock in over a ten, their saving grace was beating Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final, securing another season in the world ‘s most esteemed club-cup competition.

ODD ANDERSEN/Getty Images Another heaven-sent run must happen for them to hear the celebrated UCL theme in 2016/17. The first vault in that mission is ousting a rampant PSG. much football clubs move between mental blocks ; when struggling, the imperativeness to play in one ‘s league becomes a burden. Chelsea carry an Atlas -like weight to hold their domestic season together, and each finish conceded is a body float to those efforts. Losing at home to Crystal Palace, Southampton, Liverpool and Bournemouth, the tense Stamford Bridge atmosphere can be felt a worldly concern aside, and that environment is not conducive to winning matches. Cup competitions ( be it the League Cup, FA Cup or Champions League ) can sometimes be an oasis, an escape, a recourse. NICHOLAS KAMM/Getty Images Earning 13 points in six matches—from an true unaccented group consisting of Dynamo Kiev, FC Porto and Maccabi Tel Aviv—the Blues might find solace in seeing Champions League shirts hanging in their dress room, rather than the Premier League ‘s burdensome fashion statements. furthermore, there is a revenge factor. Chelsea had the juice death temper, and PSG—feeling aggrieved after 2013/14 ‘s quarter-final loss—returned with vengeance on their minds. Roles have reversed this season : The Parisians now have the crown, and it is Chelsea ‘s job to knock them off, avenging 2014/15 ‘s crushing round-of-16 kill. Paul Gilham/Getty Images The Blues have three forms of motivation in this season ‘s opening knock-out cycle : retaliation, the cup and the carrot of 2016/17 reservation. Their primary coil offspring is PSG have more in-form players, higher confidence and will be receiving the benefit of a winter break. Mourinho, conversely, must struggle through an arduous Christmas schedule, not knowing if his fragile vessel will shipwreck before February 16 ‘s all-important first peg at the Parc des Princes. Standing at Chelsea 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain over the final two seasons, it appears next goal wins.