Football
ESPN staffIan Holyman 9y

'Worrying signs' for Mourinho and Chelsea in exit to 'heroic' PSG - media

Chelsea's "woeful" performance was criticised by the British newspapers as Jose Mourinho's side exited the Champions League against 10-man Paris Saint-Germain.

A late header in extra time by Thiago Silva clinched an away goals victory for PSG, who progressed to the Champions League quarterfinals at Chelsea's expense.

The Independent's Sam Wallace wrote that the Blues were "far from" their best and that there were "worrying signs for their manager."

The Times' Oliver Kay said Chelsea got what they deserved, having been "second best" in both legs as they "played with the handbrake."

The Sun's back page headline read "Blue murder," with writer Steven Howard hitting out at the assertion the Premier League is the "greatest in the world" as another English side struggled in Europe.

Meanwhile, Martin Samuel, writing for the Daily Mail, reserved praise for PSG, hailing their "blend of class and cussedness."

"Heroic" and "legendary" were the adjectives most used by a triumphant French media as they feted Paris Saint-Germain's dramatic defeat of Chelsea and poked fun at Mourinho.

After falling to Barcelona and Chelsea in the Champions League quarterfinals in the last two seasons, PSG reached the last eight on Wednesday night.

Trailing twice and playing with 10 men for nearly 90 minutes following Zlatan Ibrahimović's first-half red card, Laurent Blanc's men came through thanks to Thiago Silva's headed equaliser six minutes from time, earning the PSG captain the entire front page of L'Equipe under the headline, "Heroic."

"Having fallen to stronger sides than themselves in the last two years, Paris finally have the beating of one of the continent's heavyweights, and the circumstances in which they achieved it show just how much they have grown," the paper's Damien Degorre wrote.

The paper also reminded readers of Mourinho's words before the last-16 draw. The Chelsea boss had stated PSG would be a good draw given the proximity of the French capital to London.

"He got his wish," L'Equipe said. "The first leg in France didn't go too badly, but this morning, Chelsea are no longer potential Champions League winners."

Le Parisien went further still. "Mr Mourinho, just a little question," the French capital's main daily wrote in an article entitled, 'Paris have their work of art.'

"Before the last-16 draw, you wanted to face Paris because it seems it's practical. Is that still OK? In any case, we loved it, but we have to go, we have a Champions League quarter-final to prepare."

RMC also hailed a "heroic" PSG squad, who became only the third French team to knock an English side out of the Champions League in nine attempts.

"They did it! And this feat, this moment of legend, they fully deserved it," an article on the radio station's website read. "Superb PSG. Historic PSG. Qualified, above all."

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