Chelsea still have a good chance of progressing to the last eight of the UEFA Champions League this season if they manage to contain PSG from scoring any further, Wednesday, at the Stamford Bridge.
French giants PSG got past the defending Premier League champions with a 2-1 scoreline in their first leg encounter of the Champions League round-of-16 last month at Parc des Princes. That means if Chelsea can contain the French side from scoring in the second leg and Chelsea manage to score twice, they progress to the next round.
However, if Zlatan Ibrahimovic displays his superb form right from the start of the match and scores an early goal for PSG, it will be a very stiff task for the Blues to get back.
The absence of influential defender John Terry owing to a hamstring knock is a worry for the Premier League outfit.
PSG has a formidable team on-paper. The likes of Ibrahoimovic, Edinson Cavani and Angel di Maria make the attacking department of PSG very strong. "They [PSG] are starting to build up a team, not just individual star players, but as a team they have grown very good in the last few seasons so they are on their way," Chelsea interim coach Guus Hiddink told UEFA.
"[But] I hope we can stop them in their project."
Both Chelsea and Paris St-Germain come into the game at the back of respective draws. The Blues recorded a 1-1 draw against Stoke in the Premier League last week, while PSG recorded a goalless draw against Montpellier in the Ligue 1 last weekend.
PSG coach Laurent Blanc feels that Chelsea also have certain players including the likes of Eden Hazard and Willian who can pose some real threat to their defenders. "Chelsea have a lot of players who allow them to break quickly. They like to soak up the pressure and then break at pace," Blanc said.
"Willian is one of those players, as is Eden Hazard. They have a lot of attacking players who can be very dangerous over 30, 40, 50 metres and get towards goal, so we need to keep an eye on them because it is very difficult when you give these players space."
This is the third consecutive time the two sides are meeting in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Chelsea had won the encounter in the 2013-14 season, while PSG won in the 2014-15 season.
Where to watch live
Chelsea vs PSG is scheduled to kick-off from the Stamford Bridge at 8:45 p.m. CET (1:15 a.m. IST, 7:45 p.m. GMT, 2:45 p.m. ET), March 9.
Viewers in India can catch the game on Ten Action, while the streaming option of the game is also available on tensports.com.
UK viewers can catch the game on BT Sport Europe, while the online live stream option is on BT Sport Live. The BT Sport app will also show the match Live.
US viewers can catch the game on Fox Sports 1 USA and Fox Deportes. The option of live streaming is also available on FoxSoccer2Go and Fox Sports Go.
People in France can catch the game on beIN Sports 1.
The match is also available for online streaming around the world on Chelsea TV.
