Although PSG will attempt to make the most of home advantage, history favours the visiting team as record shows that English teams have been PSG’s albatross. The French side has won only one game out of seven previous meets against English, with a record three consecutive losses.
The only time Chelsea and PSG have met in a competitive clash was during the group stages of the 2004/05 Champions League campaign and it ended 3-0 in favour of Chelsea in Paris. Interestingly, that was during Jose Mourinho’s first ever European game in charge of the Premier League outfit.
However, the result remains Chelsea’s only triumph on French soil to date.
PSG got knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by Barcelona last season but overcame Bayer Leverkusen in the previous round to set up the clash with Chelsea. The French side goes into tonight’s clash with an intimidating unbeaten record in its 28 home matches in Europe and has won its last seven in Ligue 1, leaving it13 points clear at the top of the domestic league table.
Meanwhile, Chelsea overcame Galatasaray 3-1 on aggregate in the previous round. The Blues have been in the semi-finals of the competition in seven of the last 11 seasons, but they enter the match off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Should Chelsea capture the Champions League this season, Mourinho would become the first manager to win the European Cup with three different teams.
PSG side has no injury concerns from its 1-0 win over Nice at the weekend, while Laurent Blanc also has a clean list in terms of suspensions.
Yohan Cabaye could start in the middle of the midfield for the French side, while Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi are also expected to return to the XI after starting on the bench at the weekend.
Lucas Moura could be forced to sit out once more, however, with the French side starting with a front three of Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Chelsea, however, will be without the services of Samuel Eto’o, who remains on the sidelines with a hamstring injury. Ashley Cole (knee) is also out, but Frank Lampard is expected to feature as Mourinho looks to his experienced players for the European clash in Paris.
January signing Nemanja Matic is ineligible after featuring for Benfica in Europe in the early stages of the season. As a result, John Mikel Obi could come into the centre of midfield, but Brazilian international Oscar is expected to start on the bench once more.
Mourinho expects his side to rise to the occasion at Paris St Germain tonight, despite the defeat at Crystal Palace which left him questioning the qualities of his players.
He said: “I don’t think I need to do a lot now. Paris is the kind of match they feel comfortable to play.
“A big match, great stadium, opponents with top quality, a profile of referee that normally stops a lot, doesn’t let aggression come into the game.
“I think they will be fine, they will be in their natural habitat in that match, so I believe they can do a good match there.”
“The easiest thing to do is to play well, is to perform, when you are not playing for something big,” Mourinho said.
“The difficult thing is to perform when you feel the heat. Because of that some (players) are big and some are not so big.
“I don’t think it’s courage. I think it’s personality qualities.
“You have players for everything and you have other players that are in their habitat in some circumstances.”
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