Big Match Feature: Chelsea v Lille

Holders Chelsea continue their defence of the UEFA Champions League against LOSC Lille, who are in the round of16 for the first time in 15 years. Catch the action live on SuperSport.

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While Chelsea are at this stage for the 16th time, LOSC's only previous last-16 tie came in 2006/07, when their challenge was ended by home and away defeats against English opposition.

The French champions, however, impressed in finishing first in a tight Group G this season, while Chelsea let top spot in Group H slip out of their hands on Matchday 6 and had to be content with the runners-up berth behind Juventus.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Chelsea beat LOSC 2-1 away and at home in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League group stage, those six points helping the Blues finish second in Group H on 11 with LOSC eliminated in fourth on one point.

Frank Lampard's Chelsea were victorious at the Stade Pierre Mauroy on Matchday 2 thanks to Willian's winner 12minutes from time after Tammy Abraham's 22nd-minute opener was cancelled out 11 minutes later by Victor Osimhen.

Abraham also opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge on Matchday 6, in the 19th minute; César Azpilicueta made it2-0 (35), with a 78th-minute reply from former Chelsea striker Loïc Rémy all Christophe Galtier's LOSC could manage.

FORM GUIDE

CHELSEA

The Blues looked set to take first place in Group H heading into the final round of matches after a 4-0 win at home to Juventus in their penultimate fixture had made it three victories from three at Stamford Bridge in this season's competition, and nine goals scored with none conceded, after Zenit (1-0) and Malmö (4-0) were also defeated. That gave the English club the head-to-head advantage over their Italian rivals. However, a Zenit goal four minutes into added time earned a 3-3 draw that left Chelsea on 13 points, two behind Juventus.

Chelsea claimed their second UEFA Champions League title in 2020/21 by beating Manchester City 1-0 in the all English final at Porto's Estádio do Dragão on 29 May, Kai Havertz scoring the only goal in the first half – his first strike in the competition.

The Blues had made smooth progress through their section (W4 D2) to finish ahead of Sevilla, Krasnodar and Rennes.

With Thomas Tuchel having replaced Lampard as head coach in January, Chelsea then eased past Atlético Madrid in the round of 16, winning 1-0 in Bucharest before a 2-0 home victory, and held off Porto in the last eight (2-0a, 0-1 h) with both matches played in Seville. Chelsea then got the better of Real Madrid in the semi-finals (1-1 a, 2-0h) before claiming their second UEFA Champions League title against City.

A 1-0 defeat at Juventus on Matchday 2 this season is one of only four in Chelsea's last 26 UEFA Champions League matches (W16 D6).

Chelsea have won seven of their last 13 European matches at Stamford Bridge (D4 L2), including the last five, all with clean sheets.

Edouard Mendy kept nine clean sheets in 12 UEFA Champions League matches last season, the most in a campaign by a goalkeeper for an English side in the competition's history. He has added another four from his five appearances this term.

Fourth in the Premier League in 2020/21 for the second season in a row, Chelsea are participating in their 18thUEFA Champions League campaign, and a fourth in five years. The exception came in 2018/19, when they won the UEFA Europa League under Maurizio Sarri.

Tuchel's team have already claimed European silverware this season, beating Villarreal 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1draw in the UEFA Super Cup in Belfast on 11 August. It was their first victory in the competition since 1998; they had lost in 2012, 2013 and 2019.

Chelsea's record in the round of 16 is W9 L6. Last season's defeat of Atlético ended a run of four successive lossesat this stage.

The Blues have won only one of their four two-legged ties against French clubs, a sequence that includes defeats byParis Saint-Germain at this stage of the UEFA Champions League in 2014/15 (1-1 a, 2-2 h aet) and 2015/16 (1-2 a, 1-2 h). Their sole aggregate knockout success against Ligue 1 opposition also came against Paris, in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals (0-2 a, 3-1 h).

Chelsea have won their last four games against French clubs, beating Rennes 3-0 at home – Timo Werner scoring twice from the penalty spot – and 2-1 away in last season's group stage, Callum Hudson-Odoi finding the net in France. That made it five wins in their last 11 games against French clubs, home and away (D2 L4).

The Blues have, however, lost only one of their ten home matches against Ligue 1 visitors (W6 D3), that 2-1 defeat by Paris in the 2015/16 round of 16 second leg.

Édouard Mendy is in a class of his own when it comes to #UCL action ?????? pic.twitter.com/lCguoYVBAU

— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) February 21, 2022

LOSC

LOSC took only two points from their first three Group G games but won the next three, a 3-1 victory at Wolfsburg on Matchday 6 securing progress as group winners.

The French side had lost 2-1 at Salzburg in their first away game but won by the same scoreline at Sevilla on Matchday 4.

This season was LOSC's seventh UEFA Champions League group stage campaign, but just their second in the past nine seasons. Only one of those previous six campaigns extended into the knockout phase.

Les Dogues' last appearance came in 2019/20, when they finished bottom of a section that also included Valencia, Chelsea and Ajax. LOSC lost five of their six games, the exception a 1-1 draw at home to Valencia on Matchday 3.

In 2020/21, LOSC's European campaign began in the UEFA Europa League group stage, where they finished second in their section behind AC Milan on 11 points, recording a notable 3-0 away win against the Rossoneri to help them finish above Sparta Praha and Celtic.

LOSC's campaign was ended by Ajax in the round of 32, the Amsterdam club winning 2-1 in both France and the Netherlands.

The 2-1 win in Seville on Matchday 4 ended LOSC's ten-match run without a UEFA Champions League group stage victory (D3 L7).

Despite winning at Sevilla and Wolfsburg, LOSC have managed only five victories in their 22 away games in the UEFA Champions League proper (L13) and had suffered four successive away defeats before victory in Spain; they have been beaten in nine of their last 15 away European matches (W4 D2).

LOSC are in the round of 16 for only the second time, the first, in 2006/07, having ended in defeat against English opponents as Manchester United won 1-0 away and at home.

LOSC's record in two-legged knockout ties against English clubs is W1 L2, the most recent contest against Liverpool in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 16 (1-0 h, 0-3 a). The sole success came against Aston Villa in the2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup semifinals, a 2-0 away second-leg win completing a 3-1 aggregate triumph; that victory in Birmingham remains LOSC's only one in England (D1 L5).

The defeat at Chelsea in December 2019 was LOSC's fourth in a row in England. The first-leg victory against Liverpool in 2010 is their only win in eight games against Premier League opposition, home and away (D1 L6).