Chelsea have been eliminated from Champions League at the last 16 stage against reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night
21:39, 17 Mar 2026Updated 22:22, 17 Mar 2026
Liam Rosenior’s substitution was booed by Chelsea fans (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Liam Rosenior’s decision to substitute Chelsea trio Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro during Tuesday’s Champions League thrashing against Paris Saint-Germain was met with a chorus of boos at Stamford Bridge.
The three players made way for Romeo Lavia, Alejandro Garnacho and Liam Delap with Rosenior‘s side 2-0 down at the time and 7-2 down on aggregate. Brazilian forward, Pedro, reacted furiously to the Chelsea staff when coming off the pitch at half-time after being denied a penalty.
But the decision not to award a spot-kick made little difference in west London with the Blues second-best to reigning European champions PSG. Goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and Senny Mayulu ensured an emphatic victory for Luis Enrique’s team.
The Blues’ 8-2 aggregate loss is their joint-biggest-ever margin of defeat in the competition. It is also the first time Chelsea have conceded eight goals in a Champions League tie.
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Chelsea must now concentrate on qualifying for next season’s competition through the Premier League. Rosenior’s team currently sit sixth in the top-flight table, which would see them miss out on Europe’s elite competition.
But they remain just a point off fifth-placed Liverpool, with that position likely to be enough for Champions League football, based on the overall performances of English teams across all European competitions this season.
The Blues are also in with a chance of winning the FA Cup and have a kind quarter-final draw on paper at home to Port Vale on April 4. However, their focus for now will be on the league where they face Everton next on Saturday (5:30pm GMT).
And Chelsea great Joe Cole has admitted to TNT that Tuesday night’s defeat showed his former club were a long way from competing with the best in Europe.
Liam Rosenior during Chelsea’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain(Image: Robin Jones)
He said: “That is a real leveller of where this club is compared to Paris. PSG are the gold standard, they are the champions of Europe, but it showed that Chelsea are a million miles away over the course of two legs.
“This isn’t a Liam Rosenior problem. Liam’s doing waht he’s doing, he’s just come through the door. This is a problem with strategy and the direction of where the club are going. THis is a real eye-opener to where we are as a club at the moment.
“There’s a lot of money being spent and we need to really think of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. That’s simply not good enough.
“There’s 20-year-olds and 19-year-olds on the pitch today. There’s time to grow, improve and get better. They’ll have better nights in their career. But as a football club, you’ve got to go football club first, not business first.
“Simple as that, or else you’ll get performances like that.”