Reece James has defended goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen after his errors led to Chelsea's dramatic late defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Blues were level at 2-2 with 74 minutes played at the Parc des Princes before Jorgensen's misplaced pass gifted PSG a 3-2 lead, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's brace sealed a 5-2 win for the hosts.
Jorgensen, starting ahead of Robert Sanchez, was seen being confronted by vice-captain Enzo Fernandez, who threw a ball in his direction after one of the goals. However, James insisted the squad remains united behind the Dane, attributing the errors to the team's style of play under manager Liam Rosenior.
"This is football, this is the way we want to play," James told TNT Sport. "If you play out from the back, mistakes are going to happen. Everyone in the team understands that. That is how the manager wants us to play. We are fully behind Filip."
Chelsea must overturn a three-goal deficit at Stamford Bridge next week to reach the quarter-finals. James remains optimistic, stating: "This is the Champions League. Many teams have turned ties around from four-nil, five-nil down before. We need to put this behind us and look forward."
Reflecting on the match, James added: "It is difficult to say. Looking at the game, it was fairly even up until the 70th minute. The last 15 or 20 minutes kinda ran away from us and we didn’t finish how we wanted."
