In the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, last Champions League champions Chelsea played Ligue 1 champions Lille at home, and Chelsea won 2-0 with Kay Havertz and Christian Pulisic in the first and second halves.
In this game, Chelsea changed the way they played against Crystal Palace, returning to a 3-4-3 formation, with the goalkeeper being guarded by Eduard Mendy; Antonio Rudiger, Thiago Silva and Christensen forming a three-man defence; Marcos Alonso and the returning Azpilicueta in the flanks of the wingbacks; Mateo Kovacic and Kante in midfield; and Lukaku, who has been in a slump in recent form, was put away by Kristian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech, who played the guest role of "Pseudo-Nine" Kay Havts. Lille also has many familiar faces for fans, such as Portugal veteran Jose Fonte, 2016 Golden Boy Award winner Renato Sanchez, And Canada international Jonathan David, all of whom started.
Chelsea had plenty of playing opportunities in the early part of the first half, but Kay Havertz's two kicks in the penalty area failed to translate into goals, but it gave the Blues a corner kick opportunity. In the 8th minute, Hakim Ziyech drove a corner kick from the left and Kay Havertz managed to make it 1-0 for a "bouncing earth" team. With one goal ahead, the Blues still controlled the game, but did not increase their attack, but only controlled the ball in their hands. After the change of sides, the Blues received two bad news, that is, two midfielders Matteo Kovasic and Hakim Ziyech were injured, replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Saul.
Lille also gradually gained strength, but was always constrained by the Blues' defense and failed to create too many opportunities. As a result, in the 63rd minute, Kante advanced after intercepting the ball in midfield and then passed it to the better-placed Christian Pulišić to complete the last shot to give the team a 2-0 lead. The Blues then replaced Timo Werner and Maran Sal, and Lille also put veteran Ben Alfa on the pitch, but there were not many opportunities created, and Chelsea successfully won the first leg to win with two goals.
The Focus of the Blues was, of course, to abandon Lukaku and return Kay Havertz to play as a centre-forward, only to live up to expectations and push Romelu Lukaku to the bench with an outstanding performance. Kay Havertz touched the ball 46 times this time, compared to Lukaku's embarrassing seven wins in the last game; in the front court, Kay Havertz can not only play with his teammates, but also turn around and look for opportunities to get up, get rid of opponents, break through ability, and pass the vision are all revealed in this game. Christian Pulisic's performance this time has also improved, and in the past few games, the editor has always had a bad evaluation of him, because with his ability and talent, his influence is definitely more than that. But this game Christian Pulisic, whether he took the ball or broke through, had a superior performance, and the help in the midfield was also very positive, which is definitely worthy of praise.
However, the Blues added two more wounded soldiers to this field, and Both Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech were wounded and retired from the line of fire. In fact, the Blues' schedule this season is the most intensive in the European arena, and it is inevitable that the main players are too tired; under the extra schedules such as the European Super League and the Club World Cup, the team has reached the final in the League Cup, and the pressure on their physical energy consumption is increasing by multiples. Not counting the two injured soldiers added to this game, the team already has three important players in the team, Reece James, Ben Chilvey and Hudson-Odoi, and how Thomas Tuchel can line up in the League Cup final against Liverpool will be expected.