PSG 2-1 Chelsea - Benfica 1-0 Zenit: Uefa Champions League last 16 - as it happened

Full time in both of our last 16 first legs and drama, in the end, in both matches. PSG will take a narrow lead to Chelsea after substitute Edinson Cavani struck with 12 minutes left to give the French champions the advantage. John Obi Mikel had earlier cancelled out Zlatan Ibrahimovic's free-kick.

In Lisbon, a game which meandered aimlessly towards a goalless draw was illuminated in stoppage time. First as Crisito was dismissed for Zenit for a second booking and from the subsequent free-kick, Jonas headed home the winner which gives Andre Villas-Boas' side must to do in the second leg.

Well that brings an end to the first of our Champions League live text offering. We're back tomorrow with Roma vs Real Madrid and Gent vs Wolfsburg, but until then goodbye.

Full time: Benfica 1-0 Zenit

Full time: PSG 2-1 Chelsea

Goal: Benfica 1-0 Zenit (Jonas)

Benfica take advantage of the numerical supremacy immediately. Gaitan plays the free-kick in and Jonas leaps and heads into the corner. How vital a goal in a tie with few chances, could that be? Villas-Boas looks ready to burst.

Red card: Crisito (Zenit)

Some action of sorts as Zenit are reduced to ten men in stoppage time as Crisito is dismissed for a second booking. Will it make a difference?

Gary Cahill prevents Marquinhos making it three as he blocks his effort behind. Chelsea will surely be content even if they have conceded late on. Any chance of grabbing an equaliser looks all but dead though after Willian curls a free-kick straight to Trapp.

Goal: PSG 2-1 Chelsea (Edinson Cavani)

Barely on the field three minutes, Edinson Cavani thrusts PSG back ahead. Di Maria lofts a ball over the top to find the Uruguayan who shoots hard and low through Courtois' legs and into the back of the net. Killer blow for the hosts.

Chelsea threaten for the first time in what seems like a while as he escapes Marquinhos and it takes Trapp to come off his line to deny the Brazilian. Just 13 minutes left; can either side force a winner?

Edinson Cavani on for Lucas Moura now for PSG. Blanc going for the win.

Benfica turning the screw now and the knock down finds Jardel but the defender can't wrap his foot around the ball and is flies just wide from just seven yards.

Which comes to nothing. Willian's ball is headed away by David Luiz.

Oscar on for Eden Hazard in Paris. Yellow cards for David Luiz and Lucas Moura. And a free-kick for Chelsea 30 yards from goal.

By a long, long way Benfica force the best chance of the game at the Stadium of Light. Gaitan ghosts past one defender and his shot is brilliantly saved by Lodygin before the rebound is skied over the bar.

Angel di Maria over a 20-yard free-kick and he curls it around the ball but Courtois, two-handed, pushes the ball away.

Chelsea throwing everything in front of PSG efforts on goal now. Ibrahimovic seems certain to score but he miscues a header and the loose ball is thundered goalwards by Matuidi but a combination of Ivanovic and Cahill keeps the scores level.

Thibaut Courtois showing his worth tonight and he makes the pick of his saves tonight to deny Lucas, getting down well to his right to keep out the Brazilian. The game has swung back the way of the Ligue 1 leaders.

Javi Garcia booked for Zenit for deliberate handball and he too will miss the second leg. Replays suggest he knew very little about it though. Looks like the official caved to the crowd on that one.

Di Maria slips the ball inside Pedro to Maxwell but Gary Cahill is to the rescue. Chance for Benfica but Ezequiel Garay lashes his shot fully 10 yards wide. Not a great effort from the inside left channel.

PSG coming back into the game as an attacking force and Ibrahimovic's effort is turned away by Courtois, who has been in the fine fettle tonight.

Chances at both end as Di Maria forces a fine save out of Courtois. In Lisbon meanwhile, a rare moment of attacking intent from Zenit as Witsel's effort is kept out by Julio Cesar.

Trapp continues to prevail in the one-one-one duels with Diego Costa, denying the Spaniard as he comes out after Willian threaded a pass through.

Verratti and Hazard both down in a heap after an aerial challenge, with replays showing there was a loose elbow thrown by the Belgian, though accidentally. Play back under way.

Players out for the second halves in Paris and Lisbon. Can these four teams lay down a market ahead of the second legs?

Half time: PSG 1-1 Chelsea

Half time: Benfica 0-0 Zenit

Varying entertaining in two of the finest cities in Europe. In Paris, it is advantage Chelsea after Jon Obi Mikel cancels out Zlatan Ibrahimovic's free-kick, which had deflected in off the Nigerian.

The less said about events in Lisbon, the better. Benfica and Zenit - playing their first match for two months - have served up a game hardly fitting of the illustrious stage. Neither side have threatened the scores in this one. Must try harder.

Goal: PSG 1-1 Chelsea (John Obi Mikel)

The classic sucker-punch from Chelsea, who have a vital away goal in Paris. Willian's corner is flicked on by Diego Costa, who drew two defenders and Mikel took the ball down and slams home from seven yards. The final act of the half sees the Blues back in the tie.

Goal: PSG 1-0 Chelsea (Zlatan Ibrahimovic)

Who else? The Swede demands first pressing from this shoot opportunity and though it is a bit of a daisy-cutter, it deflects off the man at the end of the wall, in this case Mikel, and the wrong side of Courtois. A tad harsh on Chelsea after an encouraging first 40 minutes.

Yellow card for Mikel after he trips Lucas Moura, who was charging towards the Chelsea box. Opportunity for PSG from around 25 yards....

No surprise to see Hulk over it and after a long run-up his effort skews wide though for what it is worth it went like a bullet. Closest the visitors have come.

Jardel takes out Hulk in an off the ball challenge when he was seemingly ready to go through on goal. The defender will miss the second leg but more importantly, good chance for Zenit around 25 yards from goal...

Good chance for PSG as Ibrahimovic loses Cahill from a right-wing cross but he miss-times it and it bounces over Courtois' goal.

Benfica have been far the better side in Lisbon and they come close to taking the lead. Konstantinos Mitroglou [remember him Fulham fans?] feeds Jonas who guides one towards the back post and via a deflection bounces past Lodygin's goal.

Now Azpilicueta with an air shot from 12 yards out and more patient Chelsea build-up. Have settled after a hairy opening quarter of an hour.

What a chance for Chelsea? A cross from the left finds the run of Diego Costa who escapes David Luiz and is only denied by a fine save from by Kevin Trapp, which hits the cross bar and goes behind. How costly could that be by the end of the second leg?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off in the second leg last season and he is the first man in the book tonight, with a nasty challenge on Jon Obi Mikel. Replays show it was the right call too with a rake down the Nigerian's achillies.

Cesar Azpilicueta stops Lucas Moura in his tracks as he tries to ghost through. Fine defending from the Spaniard.

PSG have enjoyed 80% possession this first 15 minutes so when Chelsea finally make a foray into the final third they look like a bog with a bone. Pedro peels away down the right but his cross can't find Costa and David Luiz heads clear.

Andre Villas-Boas is not the only individual returning to Portugal tonight, with a host of Zenit players back where they made their name. Among them is Hulk, who surprisingly has already turned down a very presentable opportunity to shoot inside the box, though on his right foot. Watch out for ex-Benfica midfielder Axel Witsel too, though I would think his tackle count will take care of that.

Now Lucas Moura, who has been at the center of PSG's dominance, now shoots from 25 yards and it flies. Important Chelsea get through these early moments.

PSG in complete control in the early minutes and Thibaut Courtois called into action as Marco Verratti hits across the ball and forces a low save out of the Belgian. Confident start, as you might expect, from the French champions elect.

In case you were wondering, the Champions League final ball is on show tonight...

Under way in Paris and Lisbon, two fine European cites playing host to two huge games.

Players are out and we're almost ready to go in both Paris and Lisbon. The Champions League just minutes away from its grand return.

Guus Hiddink on BT Sport: "Everyone knows the season that Chelsea has had. On top of that if you can go on in the Champions League that would be a huge achievement. We were very stable with Terry and Zouma but Branislav will play there tonight. It is a very difficult tactical game, they like to bring their game to us but also we must be careful not to go onto them. It is important to try and harm them as well so we must not sit back."

Though his comments may not be deemed anywhere near as serious, it has been impossible to ignore Eden Hazard's sentiments ahead of this game after he fluttered his eyelashes at PSG after claiming he would find it tough to say no to moving to one of the continent's elite. After a less than satisfactory season, some bold words from the Belgian; can he justify the hype tonight?

Everything may be rosy in PSG's garden on the field, but off the pitch things are far from harmonious in the French capital. Serge Aurier is out of tonight's game after being suspended by the club following homophobic comments made regarding a number of club figures including manager Laurent Blanc. The Frenchman has reacted angrily to the comments which came via a social media post and it has worked to derail the club's preparations for what is undoubtedly their biggest game of the season.

PSG take an awesome recent record with them into this tie. The league the Ligue 1 table by 24 points and could even have the retention of their domestic title sewed up by the time the second comes around in March. The club from the French capital have also lost just one of their last 49 home games in all competitions. Hell of a challenge for Chelsea tonight.

When PSG were paired with Chelsea in December, you could have been forgiven for thinking the French club had been given a free route into the last eight. The reality is since the departure of Jose Mourinho, the Blues are a vastly different proposition. Unbeaten since Guus Hiddink was appointed as interim boss, Chelsea have improved vastly of late but a series of recent injuries has derailed their hopes. John Terry misses out through injury and you wonder how much that might take its tole.

In Portugal meanwhile, it is the return of Andre Villas-Boas as Zenit take on Benfica. The former FC Porto boss is expecting a rough reception as his side play their first team since December. They return to domestic cup action in the form of the Russian Cup in 10 days time but will they be undercooked come their return to competitive action. Warm weather training camps will only assist them so much.

There is plenty of subtext to accompany the build-up to this last 16 tie in the Champions League, with PSG and Chelsea colliding for a third straight season in the knock-out phase. Last season's first leg in Paris was overshadowed by the conduct of a group of Chelsea supporters who pushed a black man off a metro train. The French champions went through on away goals and are the favourites tonight to build the foundations for a second straight victory.

Not a huge amount of surprises from that PSG team. Marco Veratti does make it for the hosts while Oscar misses out for Chelsea. Baba Rahman starts at left-back in place of John Terry.

Teams:

PSG: Trapp; Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Maxwell; Verratti, Thiago Motta, Matuidi; Lucas, Ibrahimovic, Di Maria

Chelsea: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ivanovic (c), Rahman; Fabregas, Mikel; Pedro, Willian, Hazard; Costa

Benfica are without defender Luisao and Pedro Rebocho due to an ankle problem. Serbia international Ljubomir Fejsa is also a doubt, as is Lisandro López who has a thigh issue.

Zenit are missing four players despite having not played for two months. Viktor Fayzulin has a knee injury while Igor Smolnikov is out too. Vyacheslav Malafeev and Aleksandr Ryazantsev are expected to be absent.

The teams from Paris and Lisbon are on the way and are expected around 6:45pm, but how do we expect our sides to line up?

Starting at the Parc des Princes, PSG are hopeful of recalling both Marco Veratti and Javier Pastore after respective injury problems. Serge Aurier is meanwhile suspended after comments directed towards the club and manager Laurent Blanc made on social media.

For Chelsea, captain John Terry has not travelled due to a hamstring problem while Kurt Zouma is out for the season due to a knee injury. Nemanja Matic is suspended and Radamel Falcao is also out.

After two months away either side of new year, European competition in the form of the Champions League returns to enrich our lives and those of the team who remain in contention for continental glory. Tonight is headlined by the third edition in as many seasons of Paris Saint Germain vs Chelsea. Both teams have one victory each from their previous duels in the knock-out phase so tonight represents the start of something of a decider in the French capital. Tonight's other tie sees Benfica, who have not won a European trophy since 1962 despite eight final appearances in the intervening period, hosting a Zenit side who have not played since their final group game in December due to a break in the Russian Premier League. Team news and updates ahead of the 7:45pm kick-offs on the way.