MY ACCOUNT
Chelsea’s culture was pivotal to them overcoming tough circumstances to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, according to Thomas Tuchel.
There were question marks over the Blues’ ability to travel to Lille for the second leg of their Champions League games after sanctions were imposed on their owner Roman Abramovich by the United Kingdom government.
Upon arrival in France, there were concerns the game may not have been able to go ahead after the European Union hit Abramovich with further sanctions.
However, Chelsea – who are expected to be sold to new owners before the end of the season – were able to take on Lille and fought back after falling behind to Burak Yilmaz’s first-half penalty.
Goals from Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta sealed a 4-1 aggregate win over the Ligue 1 champions, with Tuchel claiming a record-breaking 32nd victory after 50 Champions League games as a coach.
“The quarter-finals is a big step. We showed resilience and mentality to overcome difficulties. We did what was necessary. We dug in and got a deserved win. It’s difficult here,” Tuchel told BT Sport.
“Chelsea has this kind of culture within the club where we work every day. What I found from day one was a football first mentality. Everybody pushes the first team every three days, everybody goes to the limit and is focused on football.
“We’ve been trying to implement an atmosphere. This culture is already installed and this helps us now to focus with difficult and distracting times because it’s always there.
“We encourage the players. It feels so good we can still produce results and I’m proud.”
Chelsea struggled to create chances until Pulisic’s goal on the stroke of half-time, while Xeka hit the post for Lille before Azpilicueta’s goal.
Tuchel said: “We weren’t so good in the first half. The pitch was horrible and it made things complicated. It was a new pitch not ready to play on. The tactics weren’t right in the first 20 minutes, I take responsibility. Then it was more fluid.
“It was very important to calm everyone down. We were lucky with the post.
“We hope and expect to carry on. We want to compete. It took a lot of sacrifice, we fought hard to be in the last eight. We’re excited for the draw. We have a game in Middlesbrough three days later.”
Chelsea have now won four straight knockout games in the Champions League for just the second time. The last time they achieved that feat was in 2011-12, when they beat Bayern Munich on penalties in the final.
