Guus Hiddink Blames Chelsea Loss On Costa's Injury

Chelsea manager, Guus Hiddink, has blamed his side 2-1 loss to Paris Saint Germain in the knock out stage of the UEFA champions league on Diego Costa's injury.

The Spanish international gave the Blues a lifeline in the game when he cancelled Adrian Rabiot 16th

minutes goal eleven minutes after, but the premier league champions capitulated in the second half and allow Zlatan Ibrahimovich steal a second goal from them, and qualify on 4-2 aggregate.

However, Costa - who was missing in Saturday's 1-1 Premier League draw against Stoke - suffered a recurrence of a hip injury and was replaced by youngster Bertrand Traore on the hour mark.

"Yeah, he [Costa] made a beautiful goal of course, but we knew he was not totally fit," Chelsea boss Hiddink told BT Sport. "He was desperate to play, he did what he could but was not fully fit.

"You saw the difference between the squads when we had to bring young guys on and they have Edinson Cavani to come in. Although, I must say that we had young Kenedy, making a [full] Champions League debut at left-back and he was excellent.

"We'll see [how serious Costa's injury is]. I hope it is not long term for Diego. I must pay respect for him, he desperately wanted to play. He had a very good game."

Chelsea's defeat means their last opportunity to win silverware this season lies with the FA Cup, while their chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League are increasingly slim as they are 10 points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City in the top flight.

"We knew it was a difficult season for Chelsea when I came in last December," Hiddink added. "We were panicking because we were in relegation danger. 

"Chelsea's target was to get out of relegation which we did in short space of time, but it is difficult to get fourth place and the Champions League."  Goal