Lille 1-2 Chelsea (1-4) LIVE RESULT: Azpilicueta goal sees Blues ease to Champions League quarter-final – reaction

Reigning European Champions march on

That’s all from us in France where Chelsea progress to the quarter-finals as they continue the defence of their Champions League title.

Despite a two-goal advantage from the first leg, The Blues were made to fight for their place in the last eight, and had to come from behind in Lille to win on the night.

Afterwards, Thomas Tuchel praised the players resilience as they dug deep to give the visiting fans some welcome relief after a troubled fortnight.

Tomorrow the saga of ownership and takeovers will be confronted again, but for tonight Chelsea can celebrate their accomplishments on the pitch.

Thanks for reading, and goodnight.

How did the Blues do

Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic impressed, but Marcos Alonso again failed to convince as a wing-back.

Check out how the rest of the Chelsea players scored in Simon Phillips’ playing ratings.

Tuchel delighted with Chelsea resilience

Thomas Tuchel has managed 50 games in the Champions League, and won 32 of them. No manager in history has won more games in their first 50 matches in the competition.

After tonight’s game, the Chelsea boss paid tribute to his players for their characters, and admitted he got his side’s tactics wrong in the early stages of the contest.

It’s so nice that so many fans are here and took the time to travel and support the team. It feels brilliant. We’re in the quarter-finals. It’s a big step. We showed again resilience and overcame difficulties. We did what was necessary, and got a deserved win. It’s difficult here, and we did what was needed so well done to the team.

[The equaliser was perfect timing]. We were not so good in the first half. The pitch was horrible, it made things complicated for us. It’s brand new but not ready to be played on. The tactics were not right in the first 20 minutes so I take responsibility for that.

Thomas TuchelBT Sport

The Champions League quarter-finalists

The last eight of this year’s competition are now known, and the draw for both the quarter-finals and the semi-finals will be made at 11am on Friday morning.

• Liverpool (ENG)
• Benfica (POR)
• Man City (ENG)
• Atletico Madrid (ESP)
• Bayern Munich (GER)
• Real Madrid (ESP)
• Chelsea (ENG)
• Villarreal (ESP)

Match stats from Stade Pierre-Mauroy

After a promising start, Lille ran out of steam, and were eventually out-passed and out-played by the European champions.

Full time – Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4)

In the end it was a formality as Chelsea win on the night, and progress to the quarter-finals with a 4-1 aggregate win.

Lille worked hard, and fought from the first whistle. Burak Yilmaz’s penalty gave them real belief, but a Christian Pulisic goal on the stroke of half-time swung the momentum fully in Chelsea’s favour.

A second half strike from Cesar Azpilicueta ensured the European champions another Champions League victory, and they can now start to ponder Friday’s draw.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4) – Fonte yellow card

90+4. Romelu Lukaku gains possession, and squares up to Jose Fonte on the edge of the penalty area.

The Chelsea substitute goes to use his pace and power to beat the Lille man, only to find himself flattened.

It’s a yellow card to Fonte, and a free-kick for Chelsea that’s ultimately wasted by…guess who…Marcos Alonso.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4)

90+2. There’s still time for ANOTHER lazy piece of play from Alonso.

The Spaniard is slipped through on goal by Mount’s pass. He could go for power or square to an unmarked teammate, but opts for some kind of weak chip that Leo Jardim bats away.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4)

90+1. There’s still time for another lazy piece of play from Alonso.

Chelsea spark a break that has them two on one with the the wing-back charging down the left.

He only has to beat the defender with his cross to find Lukaku but fires it straight into his opponent.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4)

90. The board goes up for four minutes that nobody really wants.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4)

87. Yilmaz keeps battling away. Everyone else inside the Stade Pierre Mauroy know the game is up, but he keeps battling away anyway.

Fair play to the 36-year-old.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4)

85. Meanwhile, in Turin, Villarreal have gone 2-0 up on Juventus, and are minutes away from causing a big shock.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4) – Chelsea substitution

83. That effort was Havertz’s last act and he becomes the latest player to depart early.

Hakim Ziyech, an impressive performer in the first leg, is on for the final seven minutes.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4)

82. Havertz has a shot on the run from 25 yards that rolls straight into the hands of Leo Jardim.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4)

80. It’s that time of the game where Chelsea fans are beginning to chat amongst themselves, asking when the draw is and looking up flights to potential opponents.

“Dave, when do tickets go on s…ah, never mind.”

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4) – Lille substitutions

78. Now it’s the Ligue 1’s side turn to make some substitutions, and it’s a triple.

Angel Gomes, Domagoj Bradaric and former Newcastle favourite Hatem Ben Arga come on. Off go the impressive Jonathan Bamba, Gabriel Gudmundsson, and Jonathan David.

If there’s one of those petitions for parliament against five substitutions in games, I’m ready to put my name to it.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4)

76. Chelsea have had two shots on target tonight, and found the net with both of them.

The kind of German precision that Thomas Tuchel will appreciate.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4) – Chelsea substitutions

74. With the tie done and dusted, Thomas Tuchel takes the opportunity to introduce some of his second string.

Here come Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Romelu Lukaku, on for Jorginho and Christian Pulisic.

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (agg: 1-4)

71. Chelsea are heading for the Champions League quarter-finals!

It’s a brilliantly worked goal that stems down the left with Marcos Alonso heading a looped pass into the path of Mason Mount.

On the run, Mount looks up and fizzes a low cross towards the far post for the arriving Cesar Azpilicueta, who meets the ball fortuitously with his knee to find the net.

After a torrid two weeks, Chelsea fans have something to celebrate. They lead 2-1 on the night, 4-1 on aggregate.

Goal! Cesar Azpilicueta scores!

71. Chelsea are in front on the night!

Cesar Azpilicueta is the man on target!

Lille 1-1 Chelsea (agg: 1-3)

69. Chelsea have certainly slipped into game management mode, and are doing everything they can to slow down the game and speed up the clock.

Maison de merde as they say in this part of the world.

Lille 1-1 Chelsea (agg: 1-3)

66. Mendy incurs the wrath of the home fans by taking an age to take a goalkick before one idiot takes things too far by throwing an object in the keeper’s direction.

Referee Massa comes over to the scene, and Mendy hands him what appears to be a lighter.

Lille 1-1 Chelsea (agg: 1-3) – Xeka hits the post!

63. Lille come so close to taking the lead on the night!

Yilmaz curls in a peach of a cross from the right flank, for the arriving Xeka to head against the post. Mendy was well beaten.

Chelsea’s marking there was non-existent, and Thiago Silva is letting the rest of his defence know about it.

Lille 1-1 Chelsea (agg: 1-3)

61. Yilmaz and Chalobah clash again, and this time it’s the Chelsea man who comes off worse.

There’s an immediate suggestion that Yilmaz used an elbow, but replays again come out in favour of the Lille forward. In using Chalobah for leverage, he happened to catch the defender in the face with his hand.

Thomas Tuchel is not happy with the challenge, however, and makes his point of view clear to his opposite number.

Lille 1-1 Chelsea (agg: 1-3)

59. Pulisic wins a free-kick outside the area that Alonso will inevitably make a mess of.

And that’s exactly what happens as he fires it into the wall. However, Rudiger reacts quickly to the rebound and fires in a shot on the spin from 25 yards that whistles inches past the post.

Superb technique from the German.