Chelsea and the luck of the Champions League draws

Chelsea’s rollercoaster performances in the UEFA Champions League group stages meant it exited Group H as the runner-up. While this is an improvement over the last trophy defense’s campaign in 2012/13, the Blues still could (and should) have come out as a group winner. Their second-place finish meant they would be drawn against one of four group winners in the Round of 16: Ajax, Bayern Munich, Lille or Real Madrid. The presentation of those options saw Chelsea stare reality in the face, there weren’t any matches against Malmo left, this is the UCL getting serious.

The first draw—yes, you read that correctly, the first draw—saw the Blues draw the team they feared least, Lille. They were escaping relative danger after slipping up in the group and being given a metaphorical ‘get out of jail free” card. However, UEFA announced just shortly after the draw’s conclusion that the results would be scrapped and a second draw would take place due to some technical errors. While 14 of the 16 qualified clubs drew different opponents the second time around, Chelsea lucked out once again as it was paired with Lille—for real this time.

Chelsea gets the luck of the draws (yes, plural) after pulling Lille twice as a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 opponent

No disrespect to Lille, but the reigning French champions are a shell of their title-winning selves. Les Dogues currently sit 11th in Ligue 1 after taking 25 points from a possible 54. They have just six wins in 18 total games, having drawn seven and lost the remaining five. Lille has been a victim of a tight mid-table battle as it sits just three points out of fifth place. Regardless, this is surely not the title defense the club’s hierarchy had in mind after a dream 2020/21 campaign. That being said, the Ligue 1 giants did manage to get out of their Champions League group for the first time since the 2006/07 tournament.

Lille was the most unconvincing winner though. It finished with just 11 points (three wins, two draws and a loss) in a group that consisted of RB Salzburg, Sevilla and Wolfsburg. Les Dogues managed to find the back of the net only seven times in six matches, conceding four times. For reference, Chelsea also conceded four goals (three of which came against Zenit on MD6), but scored 13 times. While the Blues had to grind out a handful of results, that’s nothing compared to what Lille had to do in its group. Lille’s struggles weren’t unexpected though.

Despite winning the French top flight last season, there was a lot of turnover in the team. This began with the departure of manager Christophe Galtier just days after winning the title. The current Nice manager resigned after winning the title because he needed a new challenge, but perhaps he saw this decline coming before anybody else. Lille—now managed by Jocelyn Gourvennec—also cashed in on some of its stars following its lifting of the French title.

Midfielder Boubakary Soumare, one of the team’s best players, made a high-profile move to Leicester City in the summer. Starting goalkeeper Mike Maignan also left the club for AC Milan following his 38 starts the previous year. Suffice it to say, the incoming transfers also haven’t set the world ablaze for Les Dogues. Amadou Onana—who was brought in from Hamburg to fill the hole left by Soumare in midfield—has played just 533 minutes in all competitions. The other splash transfer made by Lille, left back Gabriel Gudmundsson, is in the same boat. The Swede has seen the pitch for a total of 457 minutes. Goalkeeper Ivo Grbic has allowed 21 goals in his 22 stars and managed just five clean sheets. All of this goes to show that Lille’s dip in form can be attributed to its failure to replace some of its most important figures.

Nevertheless, Chelsea won’t care what the reasoning is for its struggles, the French side is a dream draw for the Blues. Lille has the most inexperienced manager of the four clubs it could’ve drawn, the most unpracticed players and it had the most underwhelming group stage. Chelsea, the reigning European Champion, will be foaming at the mouth after earning this draw. The Blues cannot become complacent and overconfident despite these favorable fixtures. They have been on a bad run of form lately but will have ample time to figure things out. The first leg will be played at Stamford Bridge on February 22 before the return leg in France on March 16.

What do you make of the Blues’ draw? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!