Enzo Fernandez produced a furious reaction to Filip Jorgensen’s key error as Chelsea were thrashed by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
The Blues return to Stamford Bridge for next week’s last-16 second-leg tie with a mountain to climb to reach the quarter-finals after being brushed aside 5-2 by the holders in a reverse of last summer’s Club World final on Wednesday night.
Chelsea fell behind after just 10 minutes at the Parc des Princes courtesy of Bradley Barcola, but hit back through French full-back Malo Gusto before Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele put PSG back in front at the break.
Fernandez restored parity for the second time for Chelsea, who were behind again with just over 15 minutes to play when Jorgensen’s rogue pass inside his own penalty area was intercepted by Barcola, with the Dane then caught in no man’s land as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia assisted Vitinha for a delightful lob into the back of the net.
That sparked a late meltdown from the visitors as substitute Kvaratskhelia netted a brilliant strike for 4-2 before adding another in the final seconds to seal a three-goal advantage for PSG heading to west London, in a tie that was notable for Chelsea winger Pedro Neto clashing with a ball boy.
Liam Rosenior’s decision to start Jorgensen over usual No1 Robert Sanchez was a huge call in Paris and ultimately backfired, though the Chelsea boss defended his goalkeeper afterwards and captain Reece James said such mistakes were inevitable when pursuing a style of football that includes playing out from the back.
Footage from during the game that has since circulated widely on social media has shown what appeared to be Fernandez’s angry reaction to Jorgensen’s blunder, which included hurling the ball in his direction as he shouted at his team-mate.
Another viral video appeared to show James ordering a frustrated Jorgensen to not go straight down the tunnel after the game but instead go and applaud the travelling fans with the rest of the squad, with Jorgensen eventually seemingly convinced to do so by fellow goalkeeper Sanchez.
Asked about Fernandez’s reaction to Jorgensen and the Neto incident after the game, Rosenior said: “Yeah, I think, honestly, on both occasions, I haven't seen them back.
“I saw there was an altercation with the ball boy. But if there was anything from our side that was wrong or out of order, I apologise on behalf of the club.
“But I think Pedro has done in interviews. I genuinely haven't seen it back. Yeah, we've spoken a lot about this aspect, discipline, staying calm in the moment.
“It's on me to find the answer because what we won't speak about now, rightly so, was so much good in our play. It doesn't matter because we're here to win.
“We've made this tie, we've kind of shot ourselves in the foot and made this tie very, very difficult but not impossible to come back from.”
