Lille vs Chelsea LIVE: Champions League result and final score after Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta goals
Burak Yilmaz put the French side ahead, but Pulisic and Azpilicueta responded to put the holders into the quarter-finals
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Your support makes all the difference.Holders Chelsea made light of their off-pitch problems to reach the Champions League quarter-finals by beating Lille 2-1 away on Wednesday to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory.
The Premier League side, playing amid sanctions imposed on their Russian owner Roman Abramovich following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, eased through thanks to goals by Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta.
French champions Lille dominated for long spells and opened the scoring thanks to a Burak Yilmaz penalty in the opening half, but lacked precision up front and paid dearly for lapses in concentration.
Chelsea, operating on a special licence from the British government that has limited their spending and impacted their operations, showed great composure to ease into the last eight.
Lille had made the better start to the match.
Jocelyn Gouvennec’s side put Chelsea on the back foot as Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante struggled to take control of the midfield.
Lille were rewarded in the 38th minute when they were awarded a penalty following a VAR review after a Jorginho handball in the area.
The 36-year-old Yilmaz, the third oldest scorer in the Champions League knockout stages after Paolo Maldini and Ryan Giggs, buried the spot-kick into the top corner to give the hosts a deserved lead and high hopes of an upset after losing the first leg 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Lille, who had not conceded a goal in their three Ligue 1 games since the first leg, let their guard down, however, and Chelsea punished them with their first shot on target as Pulisic collected a fine through ball from Jorginho to score with a low shot three minutes into first-half stoppage time.
Although they were hit by injuries which forced Sven Botman and Zeki Celik to leave the pitch, Lille applied more pressure after the break and Yilmaz wasted two clear chances.
Chelsea were far more ruthless and after 71 minutes Mason Mount’s cross bounced off Azpilicueta’s knee into the top corner to end Lille’s hopes of reaching the last eight.
Team News - Lille
Here we go then - Lille make two changes from the side beaten in the first leg. Renato Sanches has picked up an injury and is absent, with Gabriel Gudmundsson is brought in, while Burak Yilmaz is also into the side, with Amadou Onana ducking on to the bench.
Lille vs Chelsea
We aren’t too far away from confirmed team news from the North of France. As a reminder, the Champions League quarter-final draw is on Friday in Nyon - which of these two teams will be in the hat?
Who are the potential new owners of Chelsea?
Friday is the deadline for prospective buyers of Chelsea to indicate their willingness to bid and provide proof of funds to the firm handling the sale. Who is in contention? We’ve compiled a list of names to know:
Lille vs Chelsea
Chelsea also have a severely capped travel budget, which is proving rather bothersome for the trip to the North East on Saturday, with Thomas Tuchel and his side due at the Riverside Stadium for a meeting with Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.
The travel arrangements for this fixture were concluded before the sanctions against Roman Abramovich were levied, meaning - so this might be the Chelsea players’ last chance to enjoy certain luxuries for the foreseeable future.
Lille vs Chelsea
Yes, it was two days before Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine that Chelsea secured a first-leg advantage. Since then, the club’s owner Roman Abramovich has put the club up for sale and been disqualified as a director after sanctions from the government of the United Kingdom due to his “clear ties” to Vladimir Putin, which leaves the club unable to conduct business as usual, including a de facto transfer ban and forbidding the sale of new tickets.
Lille vs Chelsea
Welcome along to our live coverage of the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie between Lille and Chelsea. The nature of the scheduling means it is three weeks since goals from Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic put Thomas Tuchel’s side 2-0 ahead after the opening 90 minutes of the tie at Stamford Bridge - and the picture at the London club has rather dramatically shifted in that time...
Lille vs Chelsea predicted line-ups for Champions League last 16 tie
Lille: Jardim; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Djalo; Bamba, Andre, Xeka, Gudmundsson; David, Yilmaz.
Chelsea: Mendy; Silva, Christensen, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso; Ziyech, Havertz, Pulisic.
Lille vs Chelsea team news for Champions League last 16 tie
For Lille, Benjamin Andre will likely have recovered from illness in time to feature, while Renato Sanches will miss out after sustaining a thigh injury against Saintt-Etienne.
Ben Chilwell and Reece James remain out for Chelsea, but fellow defenders Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva could return – the former having been ill recently. Callum Hudson-Odoi is not expected to be involved, due to an ongoing Achilles issue.
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