Chelsea set for Champions League with 5-1 Newcastle rout

Chelsea prepared for its Champions League trip to Paris Saint-Germain by routing Newcastle 5-1 on Saturday, the biggest win of a miserable Premier League season for the champions.

Chelsea climbed to 12th place but the London club remains 14 points from fourth place. Winning the Champions League is the only way back into Europe’s elite competition next season and the challenge resumes in Paris in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

Confidence will be high after this emphatic win over relegation-threatened Newcastle which saw Pedro Rodriguez score twice after Diego Costa’s fifth-minute opener while Willian and Bertrand Traore also netted. There was a blow for Chelsea, with captain John Terry coming off before halftime with a “small muscular problem” that will be assessed on Sunday, manager Guus Hiddink said.

Hiddink remains unbeaten since replacing fired manager Jose Mourinho in December. “We tried to press from the first minute to surprise them and I think we did,” Hiddink told British broadcaster BT Sport. “We had an early goal and an early second goal so that made them very unstable. “What, for me, is important is the good organization defensively and not dropping back.”

Chelsea raced into a 3-0 lead inside 17 minutes and looked like champions, but that was mainly down to Newcastle’s calamitous defending as Steve McClaren’s team lost for the sixth straight away game to fall into the relegation zone below Norwich on goal difference. Andros Townsend did score his first goal since joining Newcastle in the 90th minute but it was a mere consolation.

“We got punished severely,” McClaren said. “We have been exposed tonight by a very good team.”