Rosenior confirms James hamstring injury ahead of PSG second leg

Liam Rosenior confirmed Chelsea could be without captain Reece James for weeks after he sustained yet another hamstring injury at the weekend. 

James played the duration of Chelsea's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United, but has since been ruled out of their Champions League last 16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain. 

The Blues trail the defending European champions 5-2 ahead of Tuesday's clash, and they are also winless in their last five Champions League games against PSG (D2 L3). 

And their task has been made even more difficult by the absence of James, who has made 36 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea in 2025-26. 

The 26-year-old has been impacted by injuries throughout his career and had looked to be over those issues, but he was not spotted at Chelsea's training ground in Cobham for Monday's session, with Rosenior explaining why later in the day. 

"With Reece, he felt something in his hamstring at the end of the game against Newcastle [United]," Rosenior told reporters. 

"Really disappointing. We don't know the full extent, but it rules him out for tomorrow's game.

"It could be [weeks]. With a hamstring injury, it is never great. Hopefully, we can get him scanned, know the full extent, and go from there."

Rosenior also confirmed that fellow right-back Malo Gusto was unavailable through illness, though Estevao was back in training for the Blues. 

Chelsea were well-beaten at the Parc des Princes last time out, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia coming off the bench to ensure Luis Enrique's side were in a commanding position. 

The Blues have lost their last three games in the knockout stages of the Champions League, and have never previously lost four in a row.

They conceded five goals in the first leg of this tie, already just two short of the most goals they have conceded in a two-legged knockout stage tie in the competition (seven v Bayern Munich in 2019-20, round of 16).

Only Deportivo de La Coruna have gone to eliminate the holders in the knockout stages after losing the first leg by as many as three goals, with the Spanish side beating AC Milan in the 2003-04 quarter-finals. 

And though Rosenior tempered expectations of a turnaround, he insisted that his team will attempt to match PSG all over the pitch. 

"If you look at the game in isolation and the scoreline, we were punished by very good players for our own mistakes," Rosenior said. 

"We have been undone in games by those moments. We can't make mistakes tomorrow.

"We have to remember PSG are European champions for a reason, but we know we can compete."

The Opta supercomputer has handed Chelsea just a 6% chance of reaching the quarter-finals, with only Tottenham (4%) and Atalanta (0%) assigned a lower probability, though Joao Pedro was optimistic about his team's chances. 

"I think this week was difficult for us. We know our strengths, we still believe because we showed in the Club World Cup when we won 3-0," Joao Pedro said.

"The group believe, the manager believes, the fans should believe as well."