PARIS — Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior defended his selection of Filip Jørgensen, despite the goalkeeper’s costly error in Wednesday’s 5-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions last-16 tie.
Rosenior sprung a selection surprise by naming Jørgensen in goal ahead of usual first-choice Robert Sánchez, but the choice backfired with Jorgensen at fault for the goal which put PSG 3-2 ahead.
– Chelsea’s Neto sorry for shoving PSG ball boy
– Ogden: Sorry, everyone else: PSG are still Champions League favourites
Midfielders Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo both criticised Jørgensen on the pitch, with Fernández throwing the ball at the keeper in frustration, but Rosenior backed his decision to select the Denmark international.
“Sánchez or Jørgensen? They have different qualities,” Rosenior told reporters. “Rob is outstanding from crosses and an outstanding shot-stopper.
“Filip has amazing qualities too. One of the reasons we won at Aston Villa was because we were so calm in possession.
“But players sometimes make mistakes. Filip isn’t the first one to make a mistake, that’s part of football, but he has put his hands up in the dressing-room.
“But the fourth goal from [Khvicha] Kvaratskhelia was an unbelievable strike, no keeper in the world can get that.”
Three goals in the final 16 minutes saw European champions PSG build a commanding advantage ahead of next Tuesday’s return fixture at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea had looked set to head back to London with a 2-2 draw, but two goals from Kvaratskhelia and one from Vitinha blew Rosenior’s side away, leaving the coach bemoaning his team’s inability to handle setbacks.
“The last 15-20 minutes were crazy, but that’s on me,” Rosenior said. “We need to be better when setbacks happen, be calm and collected, and that didn’t happen.
“It’s a painful one because we were in the tie for 75 minutes. We have shot ourselves in the foot, made the tie very difficult now and the fifth goal is the painful one.
“In the Premier League, you don’t face the likes of [Ousmane] Dembélé, [Bradley] Barcola, [Désiré] Doué, Kvaratskhelia. PSG are an outstanding team, they are European champions, but we have to manage the game better.
“We had to stay calm. Two goals makes it achievable, but three goals makes it very difficult now, but not impossible.”
