Chelsea
travel to Paris to face Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain without John
Terry, who has been ruled out with a minor hamstring injury.
Guus Hiddink's unbeaten run during his second spell as Chelsea manager will
come under threat from Laurent Blanc's PSG, who are unbeaten in 23 matches
in all competitions.
Blanc's side were on a run of 16 straight wins before a much-changed side
were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Lille at the weekend. Zlatan Ibrahimovic,
Thiago Motta and captain Thiago Silva were all rested as PSG extended their
unbeaten league run to 35 games.
Chelsea and PSG met at the same stage of last season's competition and they
could not be separated in the first leg at the Parc des Princes, with
Branislav Ivanovic's opener cancelled out by Edinson Cavani's second-half
strike.
In the second leg at Stamford Bridge, the 10 men of PSG, who had Ibrahimovic
sent off, eventually reached the quarter-finals on away goals following a
2-2 draw after extra-time.
They also met at the quarter-final stage in 2014 when Demba Ba's late goal
in the second leg handed Chelsea a 2-0 win as they reached the semi-finals
on away goals following PSG's 3-1 first-leg victory.
Team news
PSG will be without full-back Serge Aurier, who has been suspended by the
club after a video emerged online in which he allegedly directed homophobic
slurs at a number of club figures.
Midfielder Marco Verratti returned at the weekend after two weeks out
injured, but Blanc has revealed it would be a risk to start the Italian.
Terry has not travelled to France after injuring a hamstring in Chelsea's
5-1 victory over Newcastle at the weekend.
Oscar has travelled after missing Saturday's defeat of Newcastle, where
Terry was forced off before half-time. January signing Alexandre Pato is not
available as he is not yet match fit.
Midfielder Nemanja Matic is suspended, defender Kurt Zouma is out for the
rest of the season with a knee injury, so new signing Matt Miazga and
academy defender Jake Clarke-Salter have been included in the squad.
Opta stats
Paris Saint-Germain have won one of their six Champions League games against
Chelsea (3-1 at home in April 2014), drawing three and losing two.
Meanwhile, four of Chelsea's last five away games in the Champions League
knockout stages have ended in draws (L1).
The Ligue 1 club have lost only one of their last 37 home games in European
competition (W24 D12), that was against Barcelona in April 2015 (1-3).
Chelsea's only away win against a French side in the Champions League came
in September 2004 when they beat PSG at the Parc des Princes (3-0). The
Blues have also drawn two and lost four.
PSG are winless in their last five Champions League games played in the
knockout stages (D2 L3).
Blanc's team are the only side, alongside Juventus and Real Madrid, yet to
concede a goal at home in the Champions League this season.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored seven goals in 36 Champions League knockout
games. In the group stages, he has found the net 38 times in 79 games.
There have been eight goals scored from direct free-kicks in the Champions
League this season, four of them by Willian.
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