Chelsea put their off-field problems aside to secure a place in the Champions League quarter-finals on Thursday as Cesar Azpilicueta scored a 2-1 win over Lille in the second leg of their last 16 tie, and a 4 -1 aggregate victory.
Reeling from the impact of UK government sanctions imposed on its Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, the London club appeared to be ripped off as they fell in the north of France to a Burak Yilmaz penalty in the first half.
Lille had the chance to save the tie after their 2-0 defeat in the first leg at Stamford Bridge last month, but Christian Pulisic equalized last night in the first half equalizer and captain Azpilicueta got the winner in the 71st minute.
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The reigning Ligue 1 champions are out, and after Paris Saint-Germain’s impressive exit last week, it means no French club will qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals on Saturday.
In contrast, defending European champions Chelsea make it three Premier League clubs in the hat as they join Liverpool and Manchester City in the last eight.
Coach Thomas Tuchel insisted there was no excuse for his team, although the Blues were left in turmoil after Abramovich’s assets were frozen, with Chelsea only allowed to continue operating under the British government under a special license.
They were banned from selling tickets and were told they could not spend more than £ 20,000 per match on travel expenses, which threw their plans for this trip across the English Channel into some unrest.
Before starting on Thursday, it emerged that the Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs’ major league baseball team, had led a consortium trying to buy the club, while British athletics great Sebastian Coe announced his participation in a rival offer.
On the pitch, Lille decided to look to add to Chelsea’s difficulties as they started at an excellent pace and Yilmaz came on twice in the early stages.
The visitors lost Danish defender Andreas Christensen just after the half-hour injury, and his replacement, Trevoh Chalobah, was booked to pull off Jonathan David within seconds of being sent off.
Lille then won a penalty in the 38th minute when Italian referee Davide Massa of VAR was alerted to a handball in the box by Jorginho.
He showed up at the scene after reviewing the pictures, and veteran Turkish striker Yilmaz made no mistake.
However, the home team was unable to hold on to the lead until the break. In the third extra minute, Jorginho slipped a formidable pass into Pulisic’s way into the box, and US International found the far corner.
That took the piece out of the game and Lille’s further hopes of a comeback were dashed when they lost two of their defenders, Zeki Celik and Sven Botman, to injury shortly before the hour.
Xeka beat the post with a header from a Yilmaz cross in the 63rd minute, but just like their only last 16 appearances – a defeat against Manchester United in 2007 – Lille found the English opposition too strong.
Chelsea secured victory on the night as substitute Mason Mount’s cross was swung from the left by Azpilicueta’s knee at the back post, and the skipper ran to celebrate with traveling support high in the far corner of the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium. . .
JUEVNTUS CRASH ERUS IN 14 MINUTES
Villarreal reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League after beating Juventus 3-0 at Turin to go 4-1 up overall.
Penalties from Gerard Moreno and Arnaut Danjuma and Pau Torres’ tap-in in the last quarter of an hour were enough for Unai Emery’s well-organized team to see the Italians at the Allianz Stadium and make the final eight draws.
Villarreal surprised Juve with three sugarcane after spending most of the match on their backs, content to stop the attacks from the hosts, who become less powerful as the match progresses.
An embarrassing defeat was just Juve’s second since the end of November and punctured a disturbed form that put them back in the league title at home.
They were loudly greeted by the home crowd, who watched as their team shrank from a promising start and jumped off a yellow wall before being bundled out of the competition.
Italy is now without a single representative in the Champions League this season as it goes into the final stages.
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