The Blues came from behind to register a 2-1 victory over Lille and booked their place in the last eight stage with a comprehensive 4-1 aggregate win.
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Chelsea have kept their hopes of defending the Champions League title alive after qualifying for the quarterfinals of the competition. The Blues came from behind to register a 2-1 victory over Lille and booked their place in the last eight stage with a comprehensive 4-1 aggregate win. It was not all easy going on Wednesday night. Midway through the first half, Chelsea went behind from the penalty spot through Burak Yilmaz in the last-16 clash. Christian Pulisic, however, equalised on the stroke of half-time before Cesar Azpilicueta scored from a Mason Mount cross to seal their passage into the quarterfinals of the competition.
Manager Thomas Tuchel was a happy man to see his side reach the quarterfinals again. “I’m happy that we are in the last eight again and there were a lot of things to overcome,” said Tuchel, as per their club’s website. “I’m so happy and so proud, it’s a brilliant result. We are into the quarter-finals and this is a big step. We showed resilience, a strong mentality and overcame a lot of difficulties and we did what was necessary.
“We dug in and got a deserved win. It’s a difficult place to come to but we did what was needed and full credit to the team. I’m so happy that we had so many fans here, they travelled over and supported the team so well. All the fans who were here with us were brilliant.”
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Tuchel then shifted his focus to the winning goalscorer Cesar Azpilicueta. The manager was happy with the way his skipper conducts himself and described him as a “legend” of the club. “He is maybe the perfect example to describe as a person and as a leader what we are doing. He is just doing what he is doing and he’s doing it in good times and in bad times, when he’s a regular player and when he’s a regular starter,” he added.
“He’s doing the same thing over and over again when he has personally maybe a period where he suffers a bit, maybe he’s not playing regularly. He needs to play all the time wing-back, which is maybe not his very best position, but he’s there and he just lives on a daily basis what it takes to be Chelsea captain.
“He’s a legend already in the club and this is what we need. I don’t think we need extra, extra, extra at the moment. We just need a reliable attitude, reliable teamwork, reliable spirit and this is what we have and what we rely on and Azpi is a huge part of that.”
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