You can't hide from this. Because there is nowhere to hide. Chelsea and my boy got EMBARRASSED by a ten-man team who pushed them, matched them and superseded them on the pitch....and ended up beating them.....DESERVEDLY.
If Arsenal and City follow suit and go out, as I expect them to...the Premiership would have finally been given a hot pimp-slap.....with no holding back.
If your studs show, you are off. You could see Ibra go for the ball and pull away. He HAD to go for it and should do so. The referee, who is normally pretty good, got it wrong and from there I was about turn it off and turn on Netflix.
But football has a way of fooling us. Who would have thought the defensive and negative Schalke would score FOUR goals in Madrid? And the clueless PSG under Yawn Blanc would produce one of THE best ten-man performances I have ever seen?
I think that is what won PSG the game. Chelsea did not know how to react when PSG were kweping the ball and creating chance after chance and controlling the life of the game. Mourinho didn't know whether to change things or keep as is...because he assumed, like I did, PSG would fold and not dare be so bold away from home. I, just like everyone who tweeted, were shocked by just how well PSG played and how much better they looked without the supposed star Ibra.
But this is about the Premiership, and it is a bodyblow to the credibility of it. Paris Saint Germain are still not top of the French League, and they outplayed the Premier League's clear leaders and very strong favourites. That is down right embarrassing and disgraceful. And it leaves one to wonder whether we can talk right now in 2015 as the Premier League being one of the best in the world.
What makes the Champions League so good is that it TRULY shows how good these teams are who dominate their domestic kingdom. Because they may look great knocking four or five past some sideshow team, but when up against players who are as good or even better than them, then we can see just how strong they are and the league is. So as of now, with Liverpool out of the groups, Chelsea not even making it to the quarters, Arsenal all but out and City going up against the most lethal attack in the world....I don't know too many people who will be putting money on and Premiership team collecting a ticket for the quarter finals.
The alarming thing, watching this match, was the gulf in class. PSG are a very talented team, something I have been harking on about for AGES, and they have one of the best footballers I have seen currently playing in Verratti with a SUPER young talent in Pastore. So these guys are very good. But Chelsea do have AbramoRICH, and Mourinho has a team that is almost pretty much to his liking. Then you have to ask yourself just how good is Costa who did not register a single Champions League goal. Or how good is the partnership of Cahill and Terry who allowed FREE headers from Luiz and Silva. I repeat: the gulf in class shows that football standards in the Premiership are just not what they used to be.
Let's see what happens with Arsenal and City because Schalke almost made it through and PSG managed to turn it around...the impossible is possible. But, these are the league leaders and the supposed best team that the English Premiership has to offer. And they were unable to defeat a ten-man team AT THEIR CRIBB. Those speak volumes so loud that even with massive earplugs and a mansion over your ears, you would still hear the cries.
Just have to be real: The Premiership is no longer one of the best leagues in the world. The Bundesliga may now slowly be coming the league that has the best standard and quality of football that is played.
HH
