Chelsea will meet Paris St-Germain at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday
in the first leg of the last-16 of the UEFA Champions League.
Both clubs come to the field without a number of some key players as the Blues miss their captain John Terry due to a hamstring injury.The defender, 35, limped off the field to be replaced by Baba Rahman in Saturday’s 5-1 Premier League win against Newcastle.Terry trained on Monday, but the club later announced he had not travelled with the team to France because of “a minor problem with his hamstring and ligament”.Brazil forward Alexandre Pato has also stayed behind, while Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic is banned.
However, Brazil midfielder Oscar returns from the break he had due to a calf injury and the English club will have the inclusion of Matt Miazga and Jake Clarke-Salter to look up to.Both clubs know each other too well having been drawn together in the Champions League knockout phase for the third successive season.In the 2014 semi-finals, Chelsea beat PSG on the away-goals rule, but PSG turned the scales and won by the same method after a thrilling last-16 encounter last season.Chelsea have sacked Mourinho who led them over the period and are currently nowhere near the top four in the EPL but Blanc led PSG to the domestic treble last season, only to be knocked out in the Champions League quarter-finals by Barcelona.PSG on the other hand, are 24 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 and heading towards a fourth straight title.It looks more likely of an uncompromising game as PSG rested striker Ibrahimovic, who has scored 27 goals in 31 appearances for PSG this season, skipper Silva and midfielder Thiago Motta in Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Lille.But the French champions will miss Marco Verratti who despite returning at the weekend from a two-week injury won’t be available. They will also miss Ivory Coast right-back Serge Aurier, who is on suspension by the club for making homophobic remarks concerning manager Laurent Blanc.
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