Chelsea vs. Paris Saint-Germain, 2015 Champions League: Thiago Silva the hero for PSG

Footballers -- and sit down and brace yourself, for your mind is about to be blown -- are very good at football. And the really good footballers -- like those out on the pitch last night for Paris Saint-Germain’s hilarious humbling of Chelsea -- well, those guys are absolutely amazing at football. Ridiculously good. Best in the world, some of them.

So why do they do stupid things?

Update: Sadly, this is from last season.

Let’s just pretend it’s from Wednesday, k? STILL COUNTS.

It looked like Paris Saint-Germain were heading out of the Champions League thanks to a mistake by Thiago Silva. Chelsea took an extra time lead because of his terrible mistake, gifting them a penalty with a handball, but the PSG captain has atoned for his error. They took an away goals lead in the 115th minute, thanks to this absolutely brilliant header.

Incredibly, this corner came as the result of an unbelievable save by Thibaut Courtois. It appeared as if Chelsea were going to hang on thanks to some heroics by their goalkeeper, but Courtois couldn’t keep Silva’s effort out on the corner.

Paris Saint-Germain have had their 10-man comeback against Chelsea thwarted by Thiago Silva, their captain and leader in defense. Not because of an unlucky handball, a harsh challenge or a questionable call, but because he stuck his dang hand straight up in the air. Eden Hazard converted from the spot after this, giving Chelsea a 2-1 lead in extra time.

COME ON JOHN.

PSG, meanwhile, have shifted Marquinhos across to right-back, with Gregory van der Wiel benched despite a promising performance in the first leg. Javier Pastore also starts in the attacking trident, with his compatriot Ezequiel Lavezzi only named as a substitute after starting in the 1-1 at the Parc des Princes a few weeks ago.

Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3): Salvatore Sirigu; Maxwell, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marquinhos; Blaise Matuidi, Thiago Motta, Marco Verratti; Javier Pastore, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Edinson Cavani.

Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are tied 1-1 after last month’s draw in Paris, leaving the result of their Round of 16 tie still very much up in the air. The Blues have the slightest of advantages thanks to their away goal in the first leg, but PSG could easily neutralize that with a goal of their own on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge.

Jon Obi Mikel will miss the match with a knee injury, while Nemanja Matic is doubtful after tweaking his ankle celebrating Chelsea’s win over Spurs. Paris are considerably more beat up with Lucas Moura, Serge Aurier and Mory Diaw all unavailable for the match. Yohan Cabaye’s injured thigh should be healed enough for him to be available for selection.

Chelsea were surprisingly lacklustre in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie at Paris Saint-Germain, though José Mourinho’s side managed to escape with a 1-1 draw and, crucially, an away goal. Heading into Wednesday’s reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, the onus will be on PSG to attack. And when their opponents come forward is arguably when Chelsea are at their most dangerous.

In possesion, Mourinho’s teams are probably underrated. Thanks to their vast array of creative talents, and endless rotation in the final third, they’ve become pretty good at breaking deep defences down. But they’re still outstanding on the counter-attack, with the blistering pace of their attacking stars able to capitalise on any defensive weakness with brutal efficiency. PSG are certainly underdog heading into this meeting.

The first leg of this tie went mostly as expected. Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain both set up with mostly defensive, but not entirely negative teams. PSG were able to avoid losing at home to keep the tie alive, but the Blues grabbed an away goal, giving themselves a slight advantage headed back to Stamford Bridge. On Wednesday, we should see a lot more of the same.

PSG have more of an incentive to commit numbers forward and push for a goal than Chelsea, but since they only need one goal, they’re unlikely to come out guns blazing from the start. A 1-0 win is probably more realistic than a 3-2 one, so don’t expect the visitors to start taking risks until they concede, or get to around the hour mark without having scored.