Why Chelsea Will Need Combative Approach to Defeat PSG in Champions League
STAMFORD BRIDGE, LONDON — Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was up to his old tricks again ahead of his team's faceoff with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, there was more than a hint of mischief about him.
Indeed, it was fitting Mourinho was sat in the Drake Suite at Stamford Bridge as he addressed the gathered media.
The Drake Suite is a vast hospitality lounge in the West Stand, normally used for fans who like to watch their football in extra comfort, tucking into a hearty meal and other such pleasantries before kick-off.
The room itself is named after Ted Drake, the manager Mourinho emulated when he lifted Chelsea's first league trophy for 50 years in 2005.
Drake was the man who had inspired the club to that inaugural league success in 1955, and he did it with a team more than willing to impose themselves on the opposition.
The attack back then was led by the talented Roy Bentley, a player who would finish his Chelsea career with 150 goals in 367 games.
Don't let those stats fool you, though—Bentley could more than mix it with the toughest defenders of the time. His nickname, Gently Bentley, was very much tongue-in-cheek.
If you're looking for a modern-day equivalent, look no further than Diego Costa.
With all that history surrounding him, Mourinho lived up to his billing once more as an attraction at these gatherings.
When asked to comment on Laurent Blanc's views on his side, the Chelsea boss refused to take the bait, explaining to one journalist brave enough to approach the subject that he doesn't talk about other manager's and their teams.
Yet in the same breath almost, Mourinho was only too eager to label PSG as the dirtiest team Chelsea have faced this season.
"I was surprised. In that game I was surprised [by the way PSG played]," he explained, referring to the physical nature of Blanc's tactics in that first leg.
"A team with fantastic players was the team with the record of fouls; was the team that was making foul after foul; was the team that stopped [Eden] Hazard with fouls all the time; was the team that was attacking the man who was in possession of the ball with two or three players.
"I have to be fair that I thought that an English team would never be surprised by agressivity—because aggressivity we have in our country—and during this season we have played a few times [against lower league opposition in the cups].
"But the most aggressive team was Paris Saint-Germain. So for me it was a real surprise because with players of such quality I was expecting more football."
It was a damning indictment of Blanc's approach in Parc des Princes three weeks ago. Yet the irony is that Chelsea will be best served by replicating exactly that at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho knows more than anyone what is needed most at this stage of any competition, and with this tie finely poised, his team need to suck the life out of it.
And how can the do that? By not allowing the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and PSG's other flair players a moment's rest.
Marco Verratti dominated Chelsea's midfield in the second half in the Parc des Princes. He was chomping at the bit—or as Mourinho would put it, chomping at Hazard's ankles—and his display was a big reason PSG clawed their way back into the tie to make it 1-1.
He didn't allow the likes of Cesc Fabregas time on the ball and in so doing, made the game one of a physical battle. Verratti intimidated Chelsea.
As Mourinho said himself, it wasn't about football in Paris—the game was transformed into something a whole lot more.
It's difficult to imagine PSG will resort to such tactics again. With the away goal working against them, they can't just stop Chelsea from playing this time.
Blanc's men need something, and they must be more inventive; they must stretch Chelsea and impose themselves in a more creative way if they are to avoid a repeat of last year's quarter-final defeat.
The way they'll do that is by feeding Ibrahimovic and the rest: Wednesday isn't going to be just about Verratti.
In many ways, that's playing into Chelsea's hands. There isn't a side better than Mourinho's when it comes to snuffing out a threat and they are the experts.
This past decade they have done it to teams far more talented and able than PSG—think Barcelona in the 2012 Champions League semi-finals—and they're capable of doing it again.
Managers like to talk about these games as being a game of quarters, so by that measure we're at half-time after the 1-1 draw in Paris.
Chelsea have one foot in the quarters, and to make the full leap forward, they need to play to their strengths.
Kill the game, then kill the opposition.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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