STADE PIERRE MAUROY — It says everything about Chelsea’s current state that somewhere between the goal that reinvigorated this tie and the one that ultimately settled it as a contest, former striker Gianluca Vialli announced that he had been in regular contact with one potential bidder and Lord Sebastian Coe was rumoured to be working behind the scenes on another. The reported deadline for offers will fall 50 hours after full-time in Lille. Time and news and billionaires wait for no man and no match.
They will at least be making their plays for a club that remains in the Champions League. Chelsea were far from their best and survived a scare, but the comfort of their first-leg lead was always likely to be enough and they eventually applied a varnish. For all the upheaval that has enveloped them, few will relish drawing a club that has lost one European knockout tie since February 2018.
Chelsea’s 2-0 win in the first leg of this tie, on 22 February, now belongs to a different era. It took place two days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Gossip columns linked the club with summer moves for Raphinha, Eder Militao, Max Kilman and Youri Tielemans. Roman Abramovich wasn’t linked to the manufacture of Russian tanks; he was simply a benevolent billionai…no sorry, I just can’t do it.
You’ve probably read all the jokes by now: the comedic images of Chelsea struggling to get to Lille due to the limitations on away travel costs imposed by the Government; the minibus careering through Hauts-de-France with Thomas Tuchel as its driver; the japes on the ferry and the “first one to see France” competition for squad morale; John Terry in a roadside cafe just south of Calais, desperately trying to pay for a round of sandwiches with a jpeg of a moody-looking ape; Chelsea are in a bizarre position of hoping to draw a Premier League team in the quarter-finals for ease of travel.
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Eddie Howe isn't the only one at Newcastle grappling with difficult questions over Saudi Arabia16 March, 2022Tuchel must look forward to match days for some light relief. Every day at Chelsea brings new controversy, new off-field news that promises to shape the immediate future of this club on it. Matches come with pressure, but at least it’s pressure Tuchel can have some hope of controlling. His task is to try and soundproof the dressing room, fostering a mood of determined pride to give the club’s supporters some relief from the news cycle.
If this was to be Lille’s first Champions League knockout home game in 15 years and is to be their last for goodness know how long, those in the Stade Pierre Mauroy were determined to make the best of it. This ground has not been at full capacity for a long time. The cheer to welcome the home side out for their warm-up was louder than most English stadia when a goal is scored. By the time referee Davide Massa had awarded them a penalty and Burak Yilmaz had converted it, this corner of French Flanders could have powered the rest of France.
Chelsea were sloppy for long periods, or perhaps simply caught between adventure and misadventure by that untrustworthy beast, the two-goal lead. With Tuchel preferring a 3-5-2 including three conservative midfielders that gave them extra defensive security, Chelsea inevitably sat back and invited Lille to break them down. At least from open play, they were largely successful.
The issue of that shape can be exacerbated when Cesar Azpilicueta plays in the absence of Reece James. Whereas James would take on a left-back and either attempt a cross or play a pass and make and underlapping run, Azpilicueta has a type: dash forward, receive the ball, turn back, pass. That is no criticism – he is simply a different type of full-back to James. But it can make Chelsea a little sluggish in possession.
Fear not. One pass is all it takes with a lead like this, one drop in defensive concentration. The vision of Christian Pulisic’s ghosting was matched only by Jorginho spotting, and executing, the pass. Pulisic’s finish outclassed them both. From on high in the Pierre Mauroy it appeared skewed at first, rather just angled wonderfully into the bottom corner.
Chelsea invited pressure again in the second half, often being panicked into hurried clearances or fouls to thwart self-inflicted danger. Xeka hit a post with a header minutes after Yilmaz had gone close with a similar header. Edouard Mendy was twice warned about his time wasting. Chelsea’s response was to produce their second moment of attacking fluidity. This time, finally, Azpilicueta busted a gut to get into the box and was rewarded with an awkward finish off his knee. They all count the same.
Lille have already had their financial implosion, albeit related more to overspending and a collapsed broadcasting deal than the shelling of Kharkiv. Who knows when or whether Chelsea’s will materialise, with billionaires circling like hawks over a cornfield. All Tuchel can do is urge that focus remains on the present, not past and future. After a Champions League midweek in which three of the four pre-match favourites were beaten, Chelsea are happy to be the exceptions.
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