London (AFP) - British newspapers and pundits rounded on Chelsea and manager Jose Mourinho on Thursday following their Champions League elimination, branding them "a team who will never really be loved".
The home side's players came in for strong criticism after they surrounded referee Bjorn Kuipers in the aftermath of a first-half foul on Oscar by Zlatan Ibrahimovic that saw the PSG striker harshly shown a straight red card.Chelsea fell to French champions Paris Saint-Germain on away goals following a stormy and ill-tempered 2-2 draw in the second leg of their last 16 tie at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The Daily Mail labelled Chelsea "The Bully Boys", using a photograph to flag up the fact that "NINE players" had encircled the Dutch official and describing their conduct as "deplorable".
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Henry Winter said "there will be little sorrow for their (Chelsea's) departure outside Stamford Bridge", beneath a headline branding the evening a "night of ignominy".
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher laid the blame at Mourinho's door, accusing the Portug
"Increasingly, though, he is beginning to look like a master of deception too."
The tabloids stuck the boot in, with The Sun's back page screaming 'Eiffel Shower' and the Daily Mirror branding Mourinho's misfiring players 'Euro Trash'.
"Chelsea got exactly what they deserved: nothing," The Sun added.
Underpinning the headlines was a fear that with Chelsea out and Manchester City and Arsenal on the brink of elimination after first-leg losses to Barcelona and Monaco respectively, England could have no representatives in the quarter-finals for the second time in three years.
"We're supposed to be the richest league in the world with some of the best players," Carragher added. "We are miles away and we're getting kidded."