After PSG mauling in Champions League, Chelsea face another scramble to salvage their season

LONDON – Chelsea’s Champions League exit on March 17 after a thumping 8-2 aggregate defeat by holders Paris Saint-Germain means the big-spending Blues and their US owners are once again trying to rescue something from the tail end of a chaotic season.

Having promised to end the carousel of managers at Stamford Bridge under former owner Roman Abramovich, the BlueCo consortium which took over in 2022 must now decide whether to stick with their bet on the inexperienced Liam Rosenior.

The 41-year-old Englishman arrived in January to replace Enzo Maresca, who also had limited experience as a coach. The Italian lasted just 18 months in the job before complaining that he was not supported and being shown the door, despite winning both the Conference League and Club World Cup.

Before Maresca, BlueCo had parted ways with Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino.

Rosenior’s challenge now – after the 3-0 defeat by PSG at Stamford Bridge on March 17 and the 5-2 thrashing in Paris on March 11 – is to get Chelsea out of their nosedive and qualify for next season’s Champions League.

That is considered the bare minimum for a club who were crowned champions of Europe in 2012 and 2021.

But the Blues, after an initial good run of form when Rosenior arrived, have picked up only five points from their last five English Premier League games, including a limp 1-0 home defeat by Newcastle United on March 14.

Chelsea sit sixth in the league table and risk being overtaken by Brentford, who are three points behind, if they cannot turn their fortunes around, starting with a visit to Everton on March 21.

“When you go through a difficult run, you have to make sure your habits are right. We have a really difficult game at Everton and we have to be at our best to get a result there,” Rosenior told TNT Sports after the home loss to PSG.

On his side’s latest defeat with goals coming from the visitors’ Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and Senny Mayulu, he added: “When you go two goals down so early and five goals down on aggregate, it’s a really, really difficult evening. We wanted to obviously put up more of a fight than what we did.

“Credit to PSG. Their possession play was really top and over the two legs they deserve to go through.”

The only prospect of silverware for Chelsea this season now rests on their FA Cup campaign, with a home tie against Port Vale – who are bottom of the English third tier – on April 4 offering the likelihood of a place in the semi-finals.

A cup triumph would bring some joy to the club’s fans, who on March 17 vented their frustration with boos at half-time, at the end of the game and at each substitution made by Rosenior.

But whatever the outcome of the remainder of the season, Chelsea supporters are likely to remain sceptical about the ability of their owners to get strategic decisions right, including their approach to recruitment.

BlueCo has so far pursued a strategy of heavy spending on young players signed on long contracts, to the annoyance of many fans who yearn for more of a balance in the squad between youth and experience. REUTERS