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UCL Rewind: Chelsea complete comeback, Dortmund’s rally falls short

Chelsea v Paris Saint-Germain - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg

By FRANCO PANIZO

Jose Mourinho has done it again.

Chelsea advanced to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday with a 2-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain that came as a result of a late goal from substitute forward Demba Ba. The triumph pulled Chelsea level on aggregate at 3-3, but the Blues advanced on away goals.

Mourinho pushed all the right buttons against a PSG side that was missing the ailing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and despite losing Eden Hazard in the early goings of the second leg due to injury.

Andre Schurrle scored the opener in the 32nd minute to inspire life into Chelsea and their fans in attendance at Stamford Bridge, but the Blues had to stave off some dangerous attacks from Paris Saint-Germain in the second half to open the door for Ba’s heroics.

Ba rescued Chelsea from elimination with a strike three minutes before the final whistle that sent the crowd and Mourinho into a frenzy. The Blues then closed out the game, completing a comeback that seemed so unlikely after the first leg was played in Paris last week.

Chelsea have now reached the semifinals of the competition seven times in the past 11 years.

In the Tuesday’s other quarterfinals bout:

MADRID ADVANCE DESPITE SCARE FROM DORTMUND

A nightmare first half proved to only provide a scare for Real Madrid, who moved on to the semifinals despite suffering a 2-0 road loss to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

Madrid advanced on aggregate, 3-2, but not before enduring a rough opening 45 minutes that saw them miss a penalty kick that would’ve put the series at 4-0 in their favor and allow Marco Reus to score a brace.

After Angel Di Maria had a questionable spot kick saved by Roman Weidenfeller in the 17th minute, Reus scored twice in a span of 14 minutes to give Borussia Dortmund a real chance at rallying vs. a Madrid side that chose to rest Cristiano Ronaldo for the entirety of the second leg in Germany.

Dortmund came close but never found the equalizer in the second half, as Iker Casillas came up with timely saves to thwart Dortmund’s comeback effort.

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What do you think of Chelsea’s comeback vs. PSG? Surprised Dortmund was not able to complete their comeback? Which of these two semifinalists do you see as having the better chance to win the tournament?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I hope the commentators for the RM–Dortmund match were better than Martin Tyler and whoever that was doing Chelsea–PSG. I normally like Tyler and thought the other guy was just blatantly pro-Chelsea, but then Tyler began to follow in his tracks. Unprofessional of them and unsuitable for such a broadcast by Fox.

    Reply
    • yeah, british commentators are pretty blatantly pro-british-teams. it gets annoying, but then, i think most commentators (from wherever) are annoying, and end up muting the audio.

      Reply
    • I’m really surprised by the number of comments on the announcers for the Chelsea match. I get you guys don’t like Mourinho but just mute your TV. The “running commentary” section yesterday was nothing but complaints about the supposed one-sidedness of the announcers.

      Reply

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