Big Match Feature: Lille v Chelsea

Holders Chelsea are well placed to reach the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals again as they travel to northern France to take on LOSC Lille defending a 2-0 first-leg lead. Catch the action live on SuperSport at 10pm CAT, GMT+2.

A goal in each half from Kai Havertz (8) and Christian Pulišic (63) put Chelsea in control of the tie and left LOSC who have now lost their last four games against Premier League clubs – needing their biggest home win against English opponents to stay in the competition.

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 12 minutes 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 it 2-0 (35), with a 78th-minute reply from former Chelsea striker Loïc Rémy all Christophe Galtier's LOSC could manage.

FORM GUIDE

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 won only one of their three home games, but did keep three clean sheets, beating Salzburg 1-0 on Matchday 5 after 0-0 draws against Wolfsburg and Sevilla.

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 victory in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final (D3 L7).

The 1-0 win against Salzburg in the penultimate round of group games ended LOSC's 13-game run without a home victory in the UEFA Champions League proper (D6 L7).

That was also only LOSC's second victory in their last 19 home European matches (D9 L8), the other a 2-1 defeat of Sparta on Matchday 5 of last season's UEFA Europa League.

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 the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup semi-finals, a 2-0 away second-leg win completing a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

At home, LOSC have won two of their seven games against English visitors (D3 L2), both 1-0; the 2019 loss to Chelsea is their only defeat, and sole goals conceded, in their new stadium against Premier League opponents (W1 D1). The first-leg victory against Liverpool is 2010 is their only win in nine games, home and away (D1 L7).

LOSC won their only UEFA competition tie in which they lost the away first leg, turning round a 1-0 defeat at Copenhagen with a 2-0 home win in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League play-offs.

LOSC have yet to feature in a UEFA penalty shoot-out.

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 gave the English club the head-to-head advantage over their Italian rivals following a 1-0 defeat in Turin.

However, a Zenit goal four minutes into added time earned a 3-3 draw that left Chelsea on 13 points, two behind Juventus. The holders' only away victory in the section came at Malmö (1-0) on Matchday 4.

Chelsea claimed their second UEFA Champions League title in 2020/21 by beating Manchester City 1-0 in the allEnglish final at Porto's Estádio do Dragão on 29 May, 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 de 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 (2-0 a, 0-1 h) with both matches played in Seville. Chelsea then got the better of Real Madrid in the semi-finals (1-1 a, 2-0 h) 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 27 UEFA Champions League matches (W17 D6).

That loss was also one of only two in Chelsea's last 20 away European games (W13 D5).

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 five from his six appearances this term.

Fourth in the Premier League in 2020/21 for the second season in a row, Chelsea are participating in their 18th UEFA 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 1-1 draw 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 losses at this stage.

The Blues have won only one of their four two-legged ties against French clubs, a sequence that includes defeats by Paris 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, 12 h). Their sole aggregate knockout success against Ligue 1 opposition also came against Paris, in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals (0-2 a, 3-1 h).

Chelsea have won their last five 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. The first leg of this tie made it six victories in their last 12 games against French clubs, home and away (D2 L4).

Last season's win at Rennes was only Chelsea's third in ten away matches in France (D2 L5).

The Blues have won 12 of the 16 previous UEFA ties after a first-leg home victory, most recently against Dynamo Kyiv in the round of 16 of their triumphant 2018/19 UEFA Europa League campaign (3-0 h, 5-0 a). Their sole previous 2-0 home first-leg victory came against Slovan Bratislava in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round (2-0 a), a competition they went on to win.

The last team to eliminate Chelsea after they had won the first leg at Stamford Bridge were Liverpool on penalties in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League semi-finals (1-0 h, 0-1 a). They have since prevailed in two UEFA Champions League ties after first-leg home wins, against Juventus in the 2008/09 round of 16 and Barcelona in the 2011/12 semifinals (both 1-0 h, 2-2 a).

Chelsea's record in seven UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W3 L4: