Forget Match Officials, Chelsea Were Their Own Worst Enemy Against PSG
STAMFORD BRIDGE, LONDON — The stunned silence among Chelsea fans told the full story on Wednesday evening as Jose Mourinho's side crashed out of the Champions League in spectacular style.
To say they were shocked doesn't quite sum it up fully.
Facing 10-man Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea put in the type of performance not befitting a side that is expected to go on and lift the Premier League; it was not the expected performance of a team that was among the favourites for glory in the Champions League.
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They lacked control and mental strength, and despite having a one-man advantage for the best part of 90 minutes, they never closed this game out—a fact Mourinho lamented.
"When a team cannot defend a corner and concede two goals from the corner, a team doesn't deserve to win," Mourinho said at full time.
"When a team cannot cope with the pressure of being with one player more and play at home, and the stadium doesn't accept the team has to control the game and want the team to win it, I think we couldn't cope with that pressure."
What Mourinho's teams are famed for—an ability to dig deep when it matters, the mental strength to overcome adversity—was all missing.
The bite wasn't there.
On an evening when the referee failed to cover himself in glory, it's only themselves Chelsea can blame for their European hopes ending prematurely.
However, Bjorn Kuipers will be eager to forget this match as quickly as Mourinho's players.
The Dutch official dismissed Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the first half for a late challenge on Oscar that hardly deserved a yellow, let alone the red card that followed it.
He also failed to award Diego Costa a penalty shortly before the interval when Edinson Cavani hacked him down inside the box. Costa was also on the receiving end of a vicious-looking elbow from David Luiz that went unnoticed by the match officials.
As Mourinho alluded to, however, none of that can legislate for what unfolded at Stamford Bridge. There can be no talk of campaigns against Chelsea or of bad decisions impacting their ambitions—this one is on them.
Mourinho seemed to have the life sucked from him when the referee blew his final whistle. There wasn't any energy in his press conference—he was more a man resigned to the fate his players had dealt him.
"For [PSG], it was easy—10 men, defensive organisation, two lines of four, Cavani in attack and long balls in counter-attack, waiting for the right moment for a free-kick, for a corner or a mistake," the Chelsea boss continued.
"...I've played matches with 10 men in the Champions League and I know that feeling. It's difficult because you have one player less, but mentally, any pressure you feel you don't feel anymore."
It's telling that Mourinho was happy to turn the focus on his players. For all his faults, it's not a trait overly associated with him.
Mourinho will taunt opposition managers and players, he'll talk about the crimes of match officials and others, but rarely will he offer a public critique of his squad.
He did it on Wednesday, as he is a man clearly concerned with where this season is headed. It has promised so much, but what the whole PSG affair has told us is that things can turn sour very quickly.
It was the basics that let Chelsea down here—the very things they often do so well that give them the platform to grind out victories when required.
John Terry was twice beaten with ease by Thiago Silva in the buildup to PSG's second goal that killed the tie.
The first time, Thibaut Courtois tipped Silva's header wide, but for the second—coming from the resulting corner—even Chelsea's 6'6" goalkeeper couldn't save his captain's blushes.
Whenever PSG attacked Chelsea, the Blues looked vulnerable. And 10 men or not, that gave Laurent Blanc's side confidence that they could get something from the game.
They knew if they kept knocking on the door, it would eventually open. That rarely happens, and now Chelsea are paying the ultimate cost.
Not since the 5-0 thrashing of Swansea City in mid-January has Mourinho's team really convinced.
The wins have been forthcoming, but the performances haven't. That's fine until something like Wednesday night happens, and suddenly, it drives home the realisation that something has to change.
"I want to know [why the players couldn't cope mentally]," Mourinho added.
"...For me it was a surprise, so I'm disappointed, but I try always to be pragmatic. When the opponent was better than us, the first feeling was that we deserve to lose. Analyse the situation is the next step."
Southampton boss Ronald Koeman was in the stands to watch this game ahead of the Saint's visit to west London on Sunday.
He surely saw plenty to give him encouragement of pulling off a similar result.
Whatever analysis Mourinho and his backroom staff will undertake in the meantime, it needs to be extensive, for if the Blues continue like this, it'll be a lot more than Champions League disappointment Chelsea are left dealing with come May.
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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