PSG 5-2 Chelsea: Paris outclass Chelsea in Round of 16 first-leg

Paris are set for a big battle as they welcome Premier League side Chelsea at the Parc des Princes. It will be the first-leg of the Champions League Round of 16 and the European Champions will hope to bounce back from their disappointing 3-1 home loss to Monaco over the weekend.

The Blues and PSG have crossed paths many times at this stage of the competition, delivering some incredibly memorable moments while sharing many iconic players who played for both sides.

For this game, Luis Enrique will have most of his players available with the exceptions of Fabian Ruiz and Quentin Ndjantou. Additionally, Joao Neves makes his return from injury and will start in midfield next to Vitinha and Warren Zaire-Emery. Meanwhile, Ousmane Dembélé has been chosen to lead the frontline alongside Bradley Barcola and Désiré Doué, pushing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the bench. In defence, Marquinhos makes his way back in the heart of Paris' backline next to Willian Pacho.

Paris Saint-Germain's starting XI: Safonov; Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Hakimi; Warren Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Joao Neves; Doué, Dembélé, Barcola.

Chelsea's starting XI: Jorgensen; Fofana, Chalobah, Gusto, Cucurella; James, Caicedo, Fernandez, Palmer, Neto, Joao Pedro.

Paris Saint-Germain dominated the Blues

In an incandescent Parc des Princes, the clash between the two rivals opened with a high level of intensity from both sides as Paris controlled the ball. Bradley Barcola then opened the scoring with a wonderful half volley from inside the box, leaving no chance to Jorgensen after 10 minutes. The France international scored his first European goal of the season after a great assist from Joao Neves.

Ousmane Dembélé came close to double PSG's lead but his strike was remarkably deflected by Jorgensen on his right post (15'). Nonetheless, Chelsea looked dangerous when going forward and managed to create chances. After several good situations, Malo Gusto scored his first Champions League goal as he equalised for Chelsea from close range (28').

A remarkable save from Safonov led to a thunderous fastbreak for PSG and Dembélé made no mistake when he gave the lead once again to his side (40'). The visitors left a lot of space in behind, exposing themselves to counterattacks.

A little bit against the run of play, Enzo Fernandez put both sides level once again. He made the most of Neto's low cross in the box to put the ball at the back of the net (57').

A dramatic mistake from Chelsea's goalkeeper gifted PSG and Vitinha their third goal of the night. The Portuguese remained ice cold in front of goal as he lobbed Jorgensen to score (74'). In the dying embers of the game, Kvaratskhelia produced a moment of magic to make it 4-2 on the night and give a comfortable advantage to his team ahead of the second-leg at Stamford Bridge (86'). On the last play of the game, the Georgian bagged a brace to improve PSG's lead (90+3).

Les Rouges et Bleus will not play any league games before the second-leg that will take on Tuesday, March 17th in London at Stamford Bridge.