CHELSEA VS PSG

The second half of the European champions league is upon us again with all its glamour, joy and pain. It promises to be an exciting and explosive second half which has pitched new and old rivals against each other in a duel that everyone is expecting to blow minds away.

The Chelsea of England side has since the start of this season shown that they are out to cause upset in both domestic and continental tournaments which was shown in their league games and the trashing of their group stage opponents on their way to this stage, prominent among them being the defeat of their closest group stage rivals Schalka O4 of Germany.

Having maintained one of the longest unbeaten records in English football and topping the English league table since the start of the season says a lot about the strength of this team. So, any team coming up against the Diego Costa led side knows what kind of battle they would face.

This is not to take attention away from the men from Paris. Their exploits in league 1 since the takeover by the Arab money bags has been unprecedented. The Zlatan Ibrahimovic led side have over the past two seasons proven the stuff they are made of and have continued to do so this season. The versatility of the powerful Ezekiel Lavezzi, his runs from the flank, his dribbling ability and his well crafted long range shots puts his side at advantage in tight games like what will happen on Tuesday. Same could be said of Pastore and the explosive Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The former Inter Milan man has proven time without number that he could be relied upon in times of hopelessness as has been the case in their domestic league.

The fluidity and elegance that has been added to the Parisians squared is unconnected with the arrival of Edison Cavani and Yohan Cabaye who have made the team thicker.

But the Jose Mourinho’s side is not bereave of these spectacular talents too. The exploits of Cesc Fabrigas since his arrival in the Chelsea fold has been amazing and has placed him in the pedestrian of the greatest midfielders of his time. He has amassed the highest number of assists in the premier league this season and has delivered the slickest true passes available.

The ability of Diago Costa has not been under any doubt from day one and so is Oscar and Willian who have proven their worth so far.

Turning the other side of the coin, a great game like this could turn into a hard nut if the two teams give a good account of themselves in all the departments but a certain time comes when certain men have to rise to the occasion. In a time like that, a team looks up to the most resilient and the most dogged fighter in their midst and that is when the likes of David Luiz would stand to answer the clarion call. The former Chelsea goal scoring defender has always lived up to the billing and on Monday, he might again. He is not the only one who could, the unrivalled Chelsea wing back Ivanovic is another man who can and so is Didier Drogba. After all he did it in Munich with an imperfect Chelsea team.

Many analysts have already handed victory to Chelsea but football has over the years shown that unpredictability is its name. Paris Saint-Germain is third in French league1table as against a table topping  Chelsea but that may not be a guarantee for success, after all, a Chelsea team that was twelfth in the league in 2012 won the champions league at the expense of a table topping Bayern Munich in the Alllianz Arena. The Jose Mourinho impact is another factor that could decide the game if he appears in all his elements. Fingers crossed.