In the tie everything seems decided after the result of the first leg, 2-0 in favor of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, so Lille has no choice but to believe in the epic comeback against the current European champion.
“It will be difficult because it is Chelsea, but we have already seen other (comebacks) in football. You can’t stop us from dreaming of a surprise”, declared the coach of the French champion Jocelyn Gourvennec last Friday.
The ‘Dogos’ will also have the pressure of being the last French club in the competition after Real Madrid eliminated Paris SG.
As if the task weren’t difficult, Lille will face the game without their Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches, one of the team’s best, who was injured last Friday against Saint Etienne (0-0).
Of course, Chelsea’s situation is anything but calm since the British government decided last week, in response to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, to sanction several Russian oligarchs, including the president of the London club, Roman Abramovich, close to power from Moscow.
Among the restrictions imposed, the limitation of expenses for travel to 24,000 euros, an insignificant amount when talking about the Champions League. Of course, coach Thomas Tuchel joked that he was willing to “drive a minibus” if necessary to take his players to the northern French city.
Likely lineups:
LOSC Lille: Garden; Zeki Çelik, Botman, Fonte, Tiago Djaló; Weah, Andre, Xeka, Bamba; Ben Arfa, Da
Chelsea: mendy; Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kanté, Kovacic, Marcos Alonso; Mount, Havertz, Lukaku
Referee: Davide Massa (ITA)
The entrance The champion Chelsea, for ratifying their advantage against Lille was first published in diary TODAY.
