Here’s what happened on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League, in case you missed it…
The results
• Watch match highlights: Paris Saint-Germain 1, Chelsea 1 || Shakhtar Donetsk 0, Bayern Munich 0
• Read match reports: Cavani header earns PSG a draw || Donetsk holds Bayern to goalless draw
The main talking points
Courtois rescues Chelsea in Paris: Tactically, Chelsea didn’t exactly park the bus on Tuesday vs PSG, although they did have a hard time just getting into the stadium (more on that later). While Diego Costa and Eden Hazard were ineffective, Chelsea did launch some dangerous attacks, with their best coming when three members of the back line (John Terry, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic) combined for the game’s opening goal in the first half.
But for the most part, the Premier League club was out-played and pegged back by their French hosts, who salvaged a draw thanks to Edinson Cavani’s equalizer and some steady play by Blaise Matuidi and David Luiz in midfield (yes, you read that correctly, although the Brazilian was culpable on Chelsea’s goal).
Chelsea head back to London in good shape, thanks not only to Ivanovic but also to Thibaut Courtois. There were questions going into this one as to whether Courtois or Petr Cech would start vs PSG. Courtois repaid the faith shown by Jose Mourinho by coming up with one of his best performances in a Chelsea uniform.
The Belgian goalkeeper made no less than five important saves in this contest, including a remarkable double stop in the 11th minute with PSG pressing, and then again deep into injury time to deny Zlatan Ibrahimovic of an equalizer. At times the Chelsea defence looked suspect as PSG forced the issue in the final third. Courtois stood tall, though, looking composed and unbothered.
“His lateral movement is as good as I’ve seen from any ‘keeper his age,” said Sportsnet commentator Craig Forrest, a former Premier League goalkeeper during his playing career.
Whatever happens, Shakhtar Donetsk are winners: The question ahead of Tuesday’s Shakhtar Donetsk-Bayern Munich clash wasn’t if the Germans would win, but by how many? The Bavarians were coming off an emphatic 8-0 win over Hamburg in the Bundesliga on the weekend, while Shakhtar was playing in its first competitive game since Matchday Six of the Champions League back in December.
What’s more, the home side from war-torn eastern Ukraine was forced to play in Lviv—around 1,200 kilometres from the conflict. Technically, Donetsk was the host team, but it hasn’t exactly been welcomed by the good people of Lviv, who were far more interested in seeing a Champions League game (any Champions League game) than supporting their compatriots.
But full credit must be given to the Donetsk players, who this season have been forced to leave their homes due to the conflict. On Tuesday they came up with one of their better efforts in holding mighty Bayern off the score-sheet and to just a single shot on target, even though the Bundesliga superpower dictated the pace and out-passed their hosts by a 551-329 margin.
Chances are good that Bayern will find a way to break through in the second leg at home and send the Ukrainians packing. Regardless, Shakhtar Donetsk are already winners, and should be commended for what they’ve achieved by getting to this stage of the tournament under what can charitably be labelled as unusual circumstances.
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Goal of the day
Save of the day
Thibaut Courtois made a number big stops for Chelsea, but his best came in the 11th minute when he parried away Blaise Matuidi’s powerful header off a great cross played deep into the box.
Best moment of the day
Very cheeky from David Luiz…
Tweet of the day
Six pack of stats
Xabi Alonso is the first player in Champions League history to be sent off on his 100th appearance in the competition.
Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic has scored seven goals in the Champions League since 2009, more than any other defender.
Shakhtar Donetsk hasn’t won any of his last seven games in the Champions League when tied nil-nil at half time (five draws and two losses).
Paris Saint-Germain is unbeaten in their last 33 home games in European competition (22 wins and 11 draws).
Bayern Munich had one shot on target on Tuesday, the fewest they have recorded in any game (in all competitions) since October, 2012.
Edinson Cavani has scored six goals in seven Champions League games this season.
** Stats courtesy of Opta
He said it
“We had some problems in attack today. We weren’t able to play, as we expected.” – Mario Gotze, Bayern Munich midfielder
Burning question
3 stars
1) Thibaut Courtois: The Chelsea goalkeeper made a number of great saves, including in the waning moments to deny Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as the Blues held on for a draw.
2) Olexandr Kucher: Donetsk’s centre back made five clearance and completed 91 percent of his passes, and was big reason why Bayern managed just one shot on target.
3) Blaise Matuidi: Was lively for PSG all game in the midfield, making a number of dangerous runs and carving out several scoring chances.
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