Paris Saint-Germain defeated Chelsea 2-1 in their home leg in the Champions League round of 16 tie.
It is not a score-line that should scare the Blues' fans too much; the London side host Laurent Blanc’s side in the second leg only needing to overcome a one goal difference.
Statistics
Many believed that defending would be a the job of the night for Guus Hiddink’s men and that was the case for large parts of the match. The home side enjoyed 65% of the possession and had 20 shots on goal to Chelsea’s 10.
But don’t let the statistics fool you, Chelsea had a number of chances in this game. Particularly late in the first half, and throughout most of the second half, the Blues caused problems for PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
In fact when Abdul Baba Rahman, drafted into the first team after John Terry’s injury, raced down the left hand side and floated an inviting cross into the box, Diego Costa met it and forced a beautiful save from the German.
Perhaps a statistic that could worry Chelsea is the form of striker Edinson Cavani when he plays against them. The Uruguayan has been involved in five goals in seven games against the Blues, scoring three and setting up another two.
Promising signs for Chelsea
Despite losing the Blues may actually be the happier of the two sides, being able to take the tie back to Stamford Bridge and focus on overcoming a small score line.
PSG will be a very difficult opponent to beat, but following the performance that Chelsea showed in Paris, the Premier League champions will fancy their chances.
Baba Rahman took his opportunity in the game against PSG. The 21-year-old hasn’t made much of an impact since his arrival from Augsburg, but in this match he consistently looked comfortable when defending and certainly threatening going forward.
A make shift back four performed solidly. There were doubts that the Chelsea defence would be able to last very long when coming up against the top quality attacking players within the French champions' side.
With Terry and Kurt Zouma missing due to injury, Gary Cahill was partnered with Branislav Ivanovic as centre-backs and were strong when dealing with world class forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede was only able to score from a deflected free-kick, which is testament to how well the defence limited him of chances.
John Obi Mikel scored his first goal of the season; the midfielder is famed for not being a prolific goal scorer so any goal is always a collector's itemfor the Nigerian. Powering home from close range after a corner, the 28-year old was the man who made the second leg a much more promising proposition for Chelsea.
First loss for Hiddink
This defeat marks the first time Hiddink has seen his Chelsea side lose since taking over in December.
The Dutchman can boast an incredible record over his two stints with the Blues. After taking over on an interim basis back in 2009 Hiddink only lost one match, securing an FA Cup while he was there.
Two losses in 34 matches would be a record that all managers will admire, Hiddink himself has made it clear that he doesn’t want to take the job on a permanent basis. Yet once he leaves again, he can be incredibly proud of his two spells at Stamford Bridge.