da roleta：
da dobrowin： The Champions League dream ended for Chelsea this evening, and barring a shock top four finish, for at least another two seasons.Despite prodding and probing the Parisians for much of the encounter, the gulf in class between the two sides was painfully evident when it truly mattered.An early Adrien Rabiot goal appeared to put the tie beyond the always reaching grasp of the fallen champions of England, though rather predictably Diego Costa retaliated to his ‘fraud’ label by netting an excellent response.Some fine interplay between Pedro and Willian on the edge of the box freed to Spanish international, who turned Thiago Silva with ease to give the hosts hope with so much still to play.From then on, the Blues were energetic and combative without ever really finding the sort of intricate attacking flow that led to their leveller.However, half-time appeared to have curtailed such dynamic pressing, as they slowly lost some of the fierceness so evident in the first-half immediately after the break.While PSG knocked the ball out with relative comfort, the quality of their front three always looked as if it would end up breaching the Blues backline.Thiago Motta, who was having a poor game by his impressive standards, expertly freed Angel Di Maria with a lovely ball to send the former Manchester United flop through.He then crossed for a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic to poke home from point blank range to end any hopes Chelsea harboured of progressing to the quarter-finals.So, what did we learn? Here are FIVE things tonight’s clash taught us.
RABIOT RAMPANT
Adrien Rabiot has been a name often linked with North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur over the last couple of transfer windows or so.
The 20-year old midfielder was in the side in place of Marco Verratti tonight, though his performance will surely have him knocking on Laurent Blanc’s door.
While not as combative as the injured Italian, the French understudy was composed on the ball and looked to dictate the tempo whenever in possession.
His opener set the tone for a largely dominant PSG performance, who barring a Diego Costa stunner, never truly looked like losing the tie.
HAZARD AUDITION
The troubles of toiling Eden Hazard have been well documented this season, though the Belgian looked as if he was getting back to his best this evening.
Though he went off injured, last season’s Player of the Year was showcasing the sort of superb skill that made him oh so revered amid their title win.
When dropping deep, he beat PSG midfielders with relative ease and dragged his team forward with aplomb. Granted, the end product was not always there, but the 25-year old was at least showing his talents once more.
With suggestions he could be in line for a mega money move to the French capital this summer, the cynics will say it was merely an audition.
Though, to be fair, he’ll have to do more to get into Blanc’s side, who boast the excellent Angel Di Maria and Lucas Moura in similar positions.
COSTA KNOCKOUT BLOW
The tongue-in-cheek Twitter jibe appeared to have backfired on the Frenchman early on, as the much maligned Diego Costa looked as up for it as ever.
His wonderful spin that led to his goal aside, the 27-year old appeared to be channeling his ferocity into solely his football tonight. A dangerous prospect for any defence, no matter how strong they look on paper.
Still, when he went off injured with around 20 minutes to play, Chelsea’s hoped all but died.
Bertrand Traore tried his best, though asking the youngster to spearhead the attack was perhaps too much to ask so soon after breaking the first-team.
When the Spaniard left the field of play, Hiddink’s side lost the directness he was proving in abundance throughout proceedings.
HALF-TIME KILLER
Up until half-time, Chelsea were pressing in a manner akin to their London neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur. Not a comparison that will please the Blues faithful, but a compliment nonetheless.
They bested their French based opposition in the first-half in most of the physical battles, though the interval looked to have drained the competitiveness for the most part.
Clearly, as the game goes on, legs are bound to tire. However, it did not take long after half-time to see the home side lose some of that momentum.
KING KENEDY
The decision to field 20-year old Brazilian Kenedy, a natural winger, at left-back against a side the stature of this particular opposition shocked many onlookers.
With Angel Di Maria operating against him, the Argentine must have been licking his lips at the notion of tearing the youngster, on his Champions League debut, apart.
However, while he was barely reaching David Alaba levels of left-back play, the debutant performed well and did not appear to be overawed by the occasion.
With £21m man Baba Rahman seemingly not trusted at all, Kenedy has emerged as a solid enough prospect in the berth.