UEFA (Photo : Reuters)
Despite being plagued by a red card, a penalty and the unnerving Chelsea home fans, Paris-Saint Germain managed to maintain their composure after a 3-3 aggregate win based on the away-goals rule.
Brazilian Thiago Silva sealed PSG's spot in UEFA final eight courtesy of a header during on the match's extra-time. However, the highlight of the game was when referee Bjorn Kuipers handed PSG ace Zlatan Ibrahimovic which forced his team to finish the game one man short.
The scuffle unfolded in the middle of the first half when Ibrahimovic tried to win position of a bouncing ball while Chelsea midfielder Oscar is doing the same on form a different angel. Oscar won the ball first and Ibrahimovic's momentum did not spot him from slamming right into Oscar's leg. When replay was reviewed could have merit a mere foul but looks very nasty as it happens in real-time, according to the New York Times.
A slo-mo review of the incident showed that Ibrahimovic knows that he was beaten to the ball and in fact he tried to pull his foot back. The replay shows that the contact with Oscar was more of a glancing blow rather than an intentional ill-mannered act to try and injure, according to The Bleacher Report.
Many football analysts did not agree with the decision to red card Ibrahimovic saying that it was too much. English sports journalist Mark Dickinson posted on his Twitter account, "Harsh red on Zlatan. Ref mistakenly thinks he's gone in 2-footed. Blanc can blame ref, Eufa, Unicef etc."
The win against Chelsea guarantees PSG a sit in the final eight stage of the UEFA Champions League.
