Chelsea survived a scare in the first half to reach the quarter-finals as they produced one of the narrow football results of the midweek action in the Champions League. Burak Yilmaz opened the scoring in the 38th minute before Christian Pulisic equalized in first-half stoppage time. Captain Cesar Azpilicueta scored the match-winner in the 71st minute to take the London side into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Player ratings:
Lille: Jardim (6), Çelik (6), Fonte (5), Botman (6), Djalo (6), Bamba (6), Andre (6), Xeka (6), Gudmundsson (6), Yilmaz (8), David (6).
Subs: Ben Arfa (6), Gomes (6), Weah (6), Onana (6), Bradaric (6)
Chelsea: Mendy (7), Christensen (6), Thiago Silva (7), Rudiger (7), Azpilicueta (8), Kante (7), Jorginho (7), Kovacic (6), Alonso (7), Pulisic (8), Havertz (7).
Subs: Chalobah (6), Mount (7), Loftus-Cheek (6), Lukaku (6), Ziyech (n/a).
Man of the match: Cesar Azpilicueta
Managers Reaction
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel: “Brilliant, brilliant and so nice so many fans are here to support the team. We’re in the quarter-finals, it’s a big step and we showed again resilience and mentality and overcame difficulties. We did what was necessary, dug in, and got a deserved win. It’s difficult here [at Lille], well done to the team. Chelsea has this kind of culture within the club and the building where we work every day. What I found from day one is this football-first mentality. Everybody pushes the first team every three days to the limit and is focused on football first.”
“This is the culture and it is already installed, and this helps us now to focus when the times are difficult, distracted because it’s already there – we don’t need to install it now,” he added. “Of course, we encourage the players and I feel a part of all of this but I’m just a part and that’s why it feels so good that we can still produce results. I’m very proud.”
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