Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea preview, Champions League 2015: Revenge on PSG’s mind

Perhaps the most entertaining tie of this Champions League round is Paris Saint-Germain hosting Chelsea to start the knockout rounds (Tuesday, 2:45 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). The defending French champions haven’t quite lived up to expectations in their league this campaign, but had little trouble finishing second in their group, earning the chance to gain vengeance on the team that knocked them out of the quarterfinals of the Champions League a year ago.

For Chelsea, José Mourinho’s men will be looking to keep their excellent run this season going. They swept through their Champions League group with relative ease, and have a comfortable seven-point lead atop the Premier League. Little has been able to stop them this season, though Paris Saint-Germain should give them as good of a fight as they’ve seen all year. This is a power versus power matchup, and everything points to this being one heck of a matchup in the making.

Paris Saint-Germain are struggling with a few key injuries coming in to this match. Serge Aurier, Lucas Moura and Yohan Cabaye picked up recent injuries, depriving PSG of three likely starters for this match. Worryingly, two other probable starters are carrying knocks as well, but both Blaise Matuidi and and Thiago Motta should be fit to start. Marquinhos is considered a doubt, but it would have been surprising if he had started anyways.

Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3): Salvatore Sirigu; Maxwell, David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Gregory van der Wiel; Blaise Matuidi, Marco Verratti, Thiago Motta; Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ezequiel Lavezzi

Diego Costa vs. PSG’s center backs - Diego Costa has gotten used to having his way with center backs this season, but he hasn’t gone up against a pairing with PSG’s quality this season. David Luiz and Thiago Silva have the physical and technical skill to keep Costa in check, or at least make a better go of it than he’s encountered in quite some time. Given that Chelsea’s ineffectual strikers of the last couple of years was why they bought Costa, if Silva and Luiz can lock him down, Chelsea could be left with the same imbalance that saw them struggle before bringing him in.

Midfield vs. midfield - The midfield battle is always important to every match, but the dynamic of these two going head to head is fairly fascinating. On PSG’s side, you’ve got three midfielders who, as a group, are stronger in defense than attack, but are certainly no slouch going forward, especially with Marco Verratti pinging passes around. For Chelsea, you’ve got the opposite - a bias towards attack, but plenty of ability when the Blues are out of possession, with Nemanja Matic in particular capable of stopping anything that comes near him. Any advantages one midfield gets over the other in this match will be of the slimmest of margins, but will prove huge for the outcome.

Edinson Cavani vs Branislav Ivanovic - This might just be the single most intriguing one-on-one matchup on the pitch. Ivanovic has been an excellent fullback for Chelsea for some time now, but even in the Premier League it’s rare for him to face a winger with even a modicum of the athleticism and power that Cavani possesses. Ivanovic is used to being able to overpower his opponents, but that won’t be an option here. Cavani’s going to do a lot of moving around as opposed to staying on the left, and if Ivanovic has one weakness, it’s dealing with diagonal balls towards his marker.

This is going to be a high-octane match and a brawl from start to finish. This tie went down to the wire in last year’s quarterfinals, and both sides have only gotten better. Another stalemate? Yes, but a fun one. 2-2 Draw.