So, that Chelsea/PSG game was something? The two teams put out a classic display. That’s not to say that both teams played extremely well because they didn’t but two teams struggling at times and playing well at times can also make for a great game.
The game went from 0-60 instantly when Zlatan Ibrahimovic got a straight red for his “foul” on Oscar. This will be the first in many outrageously incorrect calls from referee Bjoern Kuipers on both sides. It was a 50/50 tackle and a yellow card at most and Oscar played it up to get Zlatan the straight red.
And then the game really took some wild turns. PSG was down to 10 men but they really looked like they had the upper hand against Chelsea, all they needed was to score.
After a miss by Edinson Cavani, Chelsea strengthened their lead with a beautiful goal by Gary Cahill. He volleyed home the leading goal for Chelsea and they had 10 minutes until celebrating the Champions League Quarterfinals.
But alas, PSG came back and David Luiz equalized both in the game and in aggregate with a perfect header close to the end to send things to extra time.
As they went into extra time, it should be noted that there were some awful calls and as more and more of these situations occur, it stresses the need for some sort of replay system for the referees. Both teams had bad calls go against them and to be honest, I don’t know who got screwed over the most. The only call they remotely got right was Thiago Silva’s handball in the 95th minute. Silva committed the handball and Eden Hazard put away the PK in the 96th to make it 2-1 and 3-2 on aggregate.
Once again, PSG came back while they were down a man. Silva redeemed himself in the 114th minute and equaled what his center back teammate did to equalize the first time. He equalized off of a header in the corner and wound up advancing PSG to the Quarterfinals 2-2 and 3-3 on aggregate based on the away goals rule.
Through it all, that was kind of the final screw for Chelsea. The away goals rule is enforced during extra time so the second away team, like PSG, has a potential advantage if a game goes to extra time. This exact situation happened and Chelsea has every right to cry foul. Many people are against the rule but it’s unclear if the rule would ever change. Either way, PSG is moving on and will be in the Quarterfinals. It will remain to be seen if Zlatan will be playing in the first leg but I would highly doubt that he will be playing.
Oh, and Bayern Munich advanced by beating Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0. The game was over in the first four minutes so it was a blowout and a half.