Luiz stars in PSG midfield but fails in defence role

PARIS ST GERMAIN coach Laurent Blanc’s decision to field David Luiz in an unusual midfield position largely paid off on Tuesday in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie.

It was when he went back into the defence that PSG suffered.

PSG fell behind in the 36th minute after Branislav Ivanovic escaped from Luiz’s attentions to head Chelsea in front, but Edinson Cavani levelled early in the second half as the hosts played higher up the pitch.

The Brazil international had no problem imposing himself on the game either, with muscular challenges on Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa among others as well as having the audacity to wipe out the vanishing spray line before Zlatan Ibrahimovic took a first-half free-kick, moving it a short distance to the left.

He also delivered some long pinpoint passes from his holding role and seemed to thoroughly enjoy playing against his old team.

PSG beat Chelsea 3-1 in Paris in the last eight last April – when one of their goals was an own goal from Luiz – before losing 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to go out on the away goals rule.

A few months later Luiz, pictured, was out of Chelsea too, moving to PSG for a staggering £50 million fee which helped fund the acquisitions of Fabregas and Costa.

With holding midfielders Thiago Motta and Yohan Cabaye ruled out injured, Blanc decided to field Luiz in midfield, while Marquinhos paired up with fellow Brazilian Thiago Silva in central defence.

“It was a great idea. In my humble opinion, he is better here than in central defence, where he sometimes lacks concentration,” Ivory Coast coach Herve Renard told sports daily L’Equipe.

Renard’s verdict was spot on as Luiz was indeed not perfect – letting Ivanovic run off of him in the box to score Chelsea’s goal after Gary Cahill had cleverly flicked John Terry’s cross into his path. – Reuters