the floodlights are beaming down on the players here at stamford bridge in west london i'm derek
ray ready here on the commentary position and alongside me is the former arsenal west ham
and coventry midfielder stuart robson and this is where it all starts in the uefa champions league
the group stage and match day one my goodness so much to look forward to it is chelsea against
paddy cengerman well i'm looking forward to this one derek it's so important that you get
off to a good start so let's hope both sides go for the win here and we get an exciting match
here's the lineup for chelsea edward mendy starts in goal
antonio rudiger plays alongside thiago silva in central defence matteo kovich starts with
angola conte in the center of the park and operating an attack today is romelu lukaku
and here is the initial 11 for patty sagerman
luigi donnarumma begins in goal markinos plays with sergio ramos at the back kylian mbappe plays
with neymar out wide and operating through the middle in attack today as lionel messi
it's the opening match day champions league group stage match day one underway
chill well chill well
good looking cross have you dealt with that ball played in rather well
a player who opposing defenders have simply got to keep tabs on
stuart you would expect he'll have something to say for himself here
well derek he's a great all-round player but he's his ability to run in behind defenders that makes
him such a threat and when he gets 1v1 against the goalkeeper he usually scores will he play it in
chelsea regaining possession
difficult to stop him
but really sticking to the task defensively
oh great vision and he's broken free
free kick to chelsea
chill well
far from a smooth challenge will the referee produce a card
well the card is out and it's yellow yeah it's clumsy and it's late definitely a yellow card
take
and psg showing good width here
so following the deflection a corner kick coming up here
fired in by neymar for execution with regard to the corner
and the counter looks on here options available
couldn't keep it
one album and neymar
corner awarded to psg
elects to go short
textbook defending inside the box
mount
and unable to keep possession
lukaku that's how to rob them of possession
chill well oh the crossbar is still reverberating
well that was a bit unlucky because you just
get the feeling they need to make the most of one of these chances
superb defensive judgement to end the attack
there you have it in terms of possession there's not much in it it really has been a half
battle so far one of these teams needs to start taking a risk or two not great for the keeper
he takes aim now closed down straight away neymar and here's by now dome
and a strong tackle oh that's a pass of high quality he's in behind the defense here
lukaku has done it the opening statement of the night
well here it is again and the pace in which they break forward is devastating
it's so hard to defend against and his movement's so clever
once he gets onto it there's only one foot in his head smash it as hard as possible what a good goal
underway once more it's going to be interesting to see whether or not psg can articulate an
appropriate reply and the first 45 minutes have come and gone here at stamford bridge
well this man romelu lukaku a very difficult opponent and the verdict stewart has to be
positive well derek after a slow start when he was tightly marked he got better and better as
the first half went on and he got his reward with that goal i'm looking forward to his second half
display and so the second half of this champions league group stage match day one contest commences
well couldn't keep it
chances on and tremendous goalkeeping well he just made it so difficult for the striker
his presence alone just caused him a problem
played over
a deft clearance
hakimi i'm now passing it through this attack looks highly promising
and neymar and that wasn't a million miles away almost the equalizer well
it's not a bad effort is it but they've got to find a way back into this one
psg are going to switch things around on the personnel front
ball's gone
crosses like that
so a throw in here
and a retrospective yellow card is the referee's verdict
well no doubt about it that earlier challenge was a definite booking
good pressure to win the ball back high up the pitch
missy and neymar and pushed on to the woodwork well no danger now
oh they have it again di maria likes to get on the ball and he has teammates to pass it to
tremendous ball played through lukaku might do damage
well he was on his own but couldn't take advantage of it
well i'm not surprised he missed that he never really looked in complete control did he
substitution it is for psg
good vision can he get onto this
room to maneuver on the wing great block from thiago silva
and into the last 15 minutes of action
well the big question with the final whistle fast approaching is this
can chelsea see it out stewart what have you made of their performance today
well it's been a tight game but i think they've been the better team they've just had that little
bit more quality certainly an attack and of course they've been well organized at the back
they just need to see this through now good looking move base terrific block
when he saw the situation developing
given away by andera well that's how to break the spirit of the attacker
psg chasing this game the nostalgia mix
well he's thwarted him almost effortlessly well what an atmosphere we've got inside this stadium
these supporters are doing everything they can to get their team over the finish line
did well to win the ball back
di maria angel di maria has lost the ball he's going forward well here
and five against the crossbar
so full time it is and the morale boosting three points on the board to begin the european campaign
yeah it's so vital to get off to a quick start in these group stages they'll be happy with the
three points but now they have to back it up in the next game six points and you're halfway there
well he's done what he set out to do lukaku tonight well he was excellent today and he gave
them that all-important lead they just struggled to cope with him his movement was so clever