Paris St Germain, Real Madrid, Benfica, and Wolfsburg made it through to the quarter-finals on a night that saw certain sections of the Bernabeu turn on Cristiano Ronaldo following comments he made about the abilities of some of the Madrid fringe players.
On the weekend Chelsea boss, Guus Hiddink was lauded after setting a new Premier League record by getting through his first 12 games without defeat. There’s only one problem. Roman Abramovich only cared about two games since the Dutchman took over from the Special One. He has now lost them both.
For the second year in a row, Paris St Germain has dumped Chelsea out of Europe. The shift in power was there for all to see. Except a strong finish to the first half, PSG rarely looked in trouble. Chelsea spent most of the match chasing shadows without busting a gut.
Leading by two goals to one from the first leg, PSG grabbed the second leg by the scruff straight from the kickoff. Angel Di Maria giving Man Utd fans a glimpse of what he is capable of as he ran Chelsea ragged, and it was the Argentinean who started off the move that saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic slide the ball across the six-yard box for Adrien Rabiot to make it 3-1 on aggregate in the 16th minute.
Chelsea needed to score twice to take the game into extra-time; they needed three to win outright. They had scored in each of their 22 previous home Champions League games, and Diego Costa had netted ten times since Hiddink took charge. 11-minutes later and the Spaniard made it goal number 11 after making Thiago Silva look like a mug on the edge of the box before slotting the ball home.
It was a goal that saw a different Chelsea side wake up from their slumber. There was an injection of pace that caught PSG off guard. Suddenly, their confident and cocky brand of football started to look a little off key. Mistakes led to wave after wave of Chelsea attack, and PSG would have been glad to hear the half-time whistle.
Chelsea suffered a massive blow when their troublesome striker Costa limped off the field early in the second half. His replacement, Bertrand Traore, had barely got into the game when Di Maria caught the usually vigilant Cesar Azpilicueta napping; stole a march, crossed the ball into the box, and there was Ibrahimovic to net his 31st goal in 38 games.
There was no way back for Chelsea. With Mikel and Cesc Fabregas offering nothing in the middle of the park, and Eden Hazard limping out of the action, it was another disappointment in their most disappointing season since Abramovich first opened his wallet.
A Quick Round Up of the Rest of the Round of 16 Games
Cristiano Ronaldo had a night of mixed emotions as Real Madrid eased past Roma to book their place in the quarter-finals. Certain sections of the Bernabeu crowd booed the Portuguese star in reaction to the recent lambasting handed out to several of Real’s fringe players.
“Booing will simply spur him on,” said Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.
It did.
Ronaldo scored one and made the other in a 2-0 win.
Two-time European Champions Benfica is also in the quarter-final draw after two late goals saw them defeat Zenit St Petersburg 3-1 on aggregate. Benfica had won the first leg 1-0 at home, and the tie was level as the Brazilian Hulk scored for Zenit in the 69th minute. Nicolas Gaitan (85) and Souza Conceição (96) scoring those two late goals to put the side from Portugal through.
Finally, Wolfsburg has made it to the quarter-finals for the first time in the clubs history. Former Chelsea star, Andre Schurrle, scored the only goal of the match as the German side beat Genk by a goal to nil. They won 4-2 on aggregate after winning 3-2 in Belgium.
Round of 16 Results
Zenit 1 v 2 Benfica (agg 1-3)
Chelsea 1 v 2 Paris St Germain (agg 2-4)
Real Madrid 2 v 0 Roma (agg 4-0)
Wolfsburg 1 v 0 Gent (agg 4-2)
To be Played
Man City v Dynamo Kiev
Atletico Madrid v PSV Eindhoven
Bayern Munich v Juventus
Barcelona v Arsenal
UEFA Champions League 2015/16 Winner (Odds by Bodog)
Barcelona +175
Bayern Munich +300
Real Madrid +500
Paris St Germain +700
Atletico Madrid +1200
Man City +1200
Juventus +3300
Wolfsburg +5000
Benfica +6600
Arsenal +10000
PSV Eindhoven +20000
Dynamo Kiev +50000
