PARIS (AP) 鈥� Jo茫o Neves and Ousmane Demb茅l茅 returned from injury to help Paris Saint-Germain rout Chelsea 5-2 in the last 16 of the on Wednesday.
They combined to set up the first goal after 10 minutes and Demb茅l茅 scored with a brilliant solo effort late in the first half.
The third goal followed a blunder from Chelsea goalkeeper Filip J酶rgensen, who passed the ball straight to PSG forward Bradley Barcola. He fed substitute Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who then passed inside to Vitinha and he neatly lobbed J酶rgensen.
Kvaratskhelia added two late goals allowing PSG to take a healthy lead into next Tuesday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge in London.
鈥淲e showed we are capable of anything. We have to carry on like this,” Kvaratskhelia said. “We conceded goals but we have to analyze the mistakes we made.鈥�
Ballon d’Or moment
Demb茅l茅’s speed and lucid thinking on his goal showed that the Ballon d’Or winner is getting back to his best in an .
He latched onto a pass near the halfway line and then accelerated clear before cutting inside and then outside to beat defenders Marc Cucurella then Wesley Fofana before firing a low shot across J酶rgensen and into the bottom left corner.
鈥淗e played very well, he played like Ousmane Demb茅l茅 knows how to and it鈥檚 very good news for us,鈥� PSG coach Luis Enrique said. 鈥淲e look forward to him doing it again in London next week.鈥�
Demb茅l茅 came off midway through the second half but it appeared only as a precautionary measure rather than another injury flare up.
鈥淲hen a player returns you have to give them the right amount of playing time,” Luis Enrique said.
On the opening goal, Demb茅l茅鈥檚 cross from the right was headed down by Neves for Barcola to score from inside the penalty area.
Demb茅l茅 hit the crossbar moments later with a rasping shot. He came off midway through the second half.
Neves had been nursing an ankle injury since PSG in the Champions League playoffs last month.
Demb茅l茅 shook off . He had come on as a second-half substitute in Friday’s to Monaco in Ligue 1.
Their return allowed PSG coach Luis Enrique to name a near-full strength side, although midfielder Fabi谩n Ruiz remained sidelined with a left knee injury.
PSG last played Chelsea in July in the final of the Club World Cup, when .
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