Lille and Chelsea meet tonight, starting at 9:00 p.m., in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 (follow the match live on As.com). The northern team, weighed down by Renato Sanches’ injury, is looking for a miracle against the European championwho lands in the north of France to defend, in addition to the title, the comfortable lead he got in the first leg played at Stanford Bridge (2-0).
The match, marked above all by the problems that Tuchel’s team has experienced during the last week, with a change of ownership due to the departure of Abramovich, It is presented as David against Goliath. Lille, champion of Ligue 1, is sixth in the domestic championship, is not experiencing its best moment and the fans have come to ask for the departure of the coach, Jocelyn Gourvennec. The loss of Renato Sanches completely conditions the game for the northernersas the Portuguese’s talent was the only thing that made Chelsea uncomfortable, albeit timidly, in the first leg.
The current European champion, in the midst of an institutional crisis, has managed to overcome all the noise generated by Abramovich’s imminent departure from the club’s organization chart. Thanks to Tuchel’s great field direction, which eased the tension in the press conference regarding the trip to France (no more than €24,000 can be spent to go to the game), allowed the Blues to beat Newcastle by a minimum on Sunday with a goal from Havertz. Chelsea’s favoritism is extreme tonight, but Tuchel does not want to be overconfident and will go out with all his arsenal to try not to suffer a warning in the always difficult Pierre-Mauroythe stadium where Lille is undefeated in the Champions League this season.