by Mark Bassey

On Wednesday night, Paris Saint-Germain fought back twice to draw 2-2 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and qualified for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League on away goals rule.

The French club had star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off in the 31st minute, for a foul on Blues midfielder Oscar.

Immediately after the tackle, almost the entire Chelsea team gathered around referee Bjorn Kuipers and urged him to dismiss Ibrahimovic and he was not pleased.

“When I saw the red card I was like ‘the guy doesn’t know what he’s doing’ or maybe he saw something else,” he said.

“The worst is what I see when I get the red card – all the Chelsea players come around. It felt like I had 11 babies around me. I pulled out because I saw him also coming.

“I don’t know if he [Oscar] was acting afterwards or where I hit him. It doesn’t matter. We won the game and we went through so we will see what happens.”

Ibrahimovic also praised his team-mates for being brave and battling it out without him.

He added: “It was an amazing performance because we were playing with one less, even in extra-time, so they should have all the credit they can get. They played with big hearts. We showed quality and big heart.”

ifreke

Ifreke Inyang is a public commentator and social media critic who has worked with a number of high profile publications across the country.