Chelsea is through to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League after beating Lille OSC 2-1. Thomas Tuchel’s men ultimately got the job done, but there were a lot of average performances on the night as the Blues advanced 4-1 on aggregate.
Here is how the team performed on a relatively uneventful evening in France:
Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 6/10
Edouard Mendy had some good moments, especially when Chelsea tried to play out from the back. Lille’s press was very good, so he sometimes simply had to boot the ball out of play. That is the correct option when in a tight position because it should be “safety first” for defensive players. Lille didn’t come forward much, but Jorginho gave les Dogues a penalty, and Mendy again showed why Tuchel often takes him off for penalty shootouts.
Andreas Christensen (Right centerback): 6/10
Andreas Christensen’s most memorable moment before the injury came when he was on the wrong side of a Lille player and fouled him. This led to a Lille free kick in a very comfortable (from the host’s point of view) position.
Thiago Silva (Centerback): 6.5/10
Thiago Silva was not really on top of his game on Wednesday. He made a bad pass to Jorginho, who was under pressure, and the Italian failed to control it, leading to a turnover. Silva still made some important interceptions, but he wasn’t in as much control as many have come to expect. He was not doing a good job of organizing the defense either.
Antonio Rudiger (Left centerback): 6/10
Antonio Rudiger, for the most part, did his job. He wasn’t flashy and many attacks didn’t come through his flank, so he wasn’t put in many positions to make defensive actions. He was his usual solid self, driving the ball forward and attempting many long balls, though he didn’t offer nearly enough switches of play.
Cesar Azpilicueta (Right wingback): 7.5/10
Cesar Azpilicueta played an important role in helping break the press on Chelsea’s right flank. His decision-making in the final third was not impeccable, despite getting the chance to carry the ball into that area fairly often. His runs down the right flank eventually got him the Blues’ second goal. He was able to get his knee on Mason Mount’s cross, which was enough to fire it into the back of the reigning French champions’ net.
N’Golo Kante (Central midfielder): 6/10
N’Golo Kante was not good in the game against Lille. He lost the ball many times, he lost nearly every duel he contested and he committed too many fouls for someone who did not win any tackles. Kante was dribbled past twice in the first half, made no tackles and lost 12 out of 13 contested ground duels. He also committed seven fouls, more than any other player. Seven fouls is also an extremely poor tally, especially with zero successful tackles.
Jorginho (Defensive midfielder): 7/10
Jorginho was the best of the midfield three (although that’s a fairly low bar) against Lille. His distribution was very good, he made the most defensive actions of any Chelsea player and he showed good vision to find Christian Pulisic for the Blues’ first goal. Jorginho made as many as four tackles. He also made an error leading to a look on goal that perhaps was more on Silva than him. He then gave away the penalty for Lile’s goal. Mixed bag from the Italian.
Mateo Kovacic (Central midfielder): 6/10
Mateo Kovacic looked electric for large parts of the first half, and it was somewhat surprising to see him come off at halftime. He certainly seemed a bit redundant and when you consider that Chelsea has another game this weekend, Tuchel might have decided he didn’t need Kovacic to see off Lille. The Croatian has been one of the Blues’ most important players this season.
Marcos Alonso (Left wingback): 6/10
Marcos Alonso was OK. He was defensively alert and technically efficient. The Spaniard did well to stretch the pitch, often giving Chelsea a passing option there. Alonso often makes himself a target for a switch of play though. He attempted many superb crosses that missed the target by a hair’s breadth.
Kai Havertz (Right forward): 6/10
Havertz, like Pulisic, was marked out of the game for large parts. He did win a few fouls to relieve Chelsea of pressure. The German won five of his 10 attempted ground duels, as well. He was often isolated up front, forcing him to drop really deep to get on the ball sometimes. Things improved slightly when Mount came onto the pitch and it was a “front three” again. However, Havertz never quite found his way into the game. He probably should have come off long before he eventually did.
Chelsea’s win was ultimately more important than any one person’s performance though. Havertz played much better in the first leg, but the conditions and factors surrounding the two games were vastly different.
Christian Pulisic (Left forward): 7/10
Christian Pulisic was quiet for large parts of the game. He was the definition of clinical, though, because the one notable thing he did in the game was score a beautifully taken goal when presented with the chance. The midfielders did not do enough to involve the forwards in play. However, Lille’s pressing was very good and part of the reason the midfielders could not involve them more was because they were marked out of the game. It was fairly easy to mark them out of the game as Chelsea played with only two forwards.
Pulisic played a very important role in this match, as despite him not being too involved, he was still able to get an important goal before halftime to put the minds of his teammates at ease. Pulisic’s ball retention could have been better, especially as the Blues depended on him to be an out-ball. He tried a lot of tricks that didn’t come off. The American will need to increase his efficiency as there is such a thing as over-dribbling. The best way to take advantage of an overload on one flank is to get the ball to the wide man as quickly as possible. Pulisic won a few fouls that looked like he ‘d have been better off just passing the ball.
Trevoh Chalobah (Right centerback): 6/10
Perhaps the fact that Trevoh Chalobah got a yellow card a minute after replacing the injured Christensen says something. Chalobah was generally OK, but he certainly wasn’t good and he has not made a case to start the next match by merit. Chalobah probably still starts due to Christensen’s injury though. He made four clearances and more or less did nothing else, other than short passes, throughout the contest.
Mason Mount (Left winger): 7/10
Mount’s performance will be remembered for his assist to Azpilicueta—which was a very good assist. He completed no dribbles, though he did win three fouls. He also served as a very good outlet for Chelsea to get out of its half and stretch the pitch. Mount’s hold-up play was decent.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Central midfielder): 6/10
Ruben Loftus-Cheek came in to add bodies to the Blues’ midfield—stronger bodies, more specifically. It worked, I guess? He won four out of six contested duels, which is good. He also helped Chelsea relieve pressure by winning fouls, though whether he should have been prioritizing winning the foul over certain other options, is up for debate.
Romelu Lukaku (Striker): 5/10
Romelu Lukaku did nothing in the 16 minutes he played. Havertz was not having a great game anyway, so it was only fair that Lukaku would replace him up top at some point. Lukaku should be getting more consistent starts by now, but not with these performances, he won’t.
Hakim Ziyech (Right winger): N/A
Hakim Ziyech was was ineffective as he was expected to be playing just seven minutes of regulation time.
Thomas Tuchel (Manager): 8/10
The line-up made sense. The Kante-Jorginho-Kovacic midfield three was probably there to control the midfield, and still, Chelsea found it difficult to maintain control of the game. He was paying close attention though, as his halftime substitution was mostly to rest Kovacic ahead of the Blues’ FA Cup quarterfinal tie against Middlesbrough. Some of his substitutes were completely ineffective, but that didn’t make them wrong subs. Tuchel has done an impeccable job of managing the off-field crisis, both to the media and to his players.
What rating would you give to each player? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!