Like the neighbourly rivalry France has for all things England is not enough, it looks like the folks over at French club Paris Saint-Germain are having a growing hatred for anything English in recent times.
First, it was the most successful club from that country, Manchester United, who brought misery upon them with that late Marcus Rashford goal in the Champions League few weeks ago and now, another English club is preparing to inflict more misery on the Parisians.
Having now seen their men’s team fall, much to their frustration, for the third successive year at the round of 16 stage, PSG’s women’s team look set to follow their male counterpart out of Europe in their version of the Champions League after suffering a 2-0 loss to English side, Chelsea, in the quarter-final first leg of their clash.
The Blues boosted their chances of reaching the Women’s Champions League semi-finals for a second consecutive year as goals from Hannah Blundell and Erin Cuthert opened up a great advantage for the Londoners over PSG.
Blundell’s curler along with a late strike from Cuthbert saw the English side take control of the tie, on a night which saw an extremely unusual police incident at a women’s club match.
Chelsea boss Hayes told BBC Sport: “We were controlled, composed and experienced. It was a tactical game. It was cagey but we produced the quality in the right moments. We’re always progressing, and this team is much further ahead than it was 12 months ago, regardless of our league position.”
She added: “I wouldn’t say we’re comfortable. That [the second leg] is going to be a 10-15,000-strong, packed crowd, and I expect it will be quite hostile, and we’re going to go through difficult moments.”
Ahead of the quarter-final first leg at Kingsmeadow, police uncovered weapons, including knives and knuckledusters, from a coach of PSG supporters, who were consequently denied entry into the match venue.
Meanwhile, Hayes’ side, who are third in the Women’s Super League, struggled to create chances before the break, but sprung to life after the introduction of Fran Kirby from the bench. Kirby almost gave Chelsea the lead as she saw her effort go narrowly wide, before the Blues went on to grab two potentially decisive goals in the final 20 minutes.
As a result, Chelsea will now progress to the last four of the Champions League if they can come away from Paris with a one-goal loss or better against PSG in the second leg next Wednesday.
Chelsea also could have added to their lead during the second half, but Sophie Ingle’s powerful header struck the post when the Blues were still just a goal up. As for PSG, the best moment for the French side, who were finalists in 2015 and 2017, came when Canada winger Ashley Lawrence was denied by a strong, second-half save from Chelsea goalkeeper, Ann-Katrin Berger.
The Blues now head into that second leg clash with PSG aiming to reach the last four in their quest to become the first English side since Arsenal lifted a quadruple of trophies in 2007 to win the Champions League. Will the Blues succeed in heaping more misery on PSG or will the Parisians bring joy to their fans?