Chelsea booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday night, beating Lille 2-1 in France to cruise through 4-1 on aggregate. Burak Yilmaz opened the scoring for the hosts with a penalty in the first-half, pulling the Ligue 1 side to within a goal of the Blues.
However, finishes from Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta made sure the tie wasn’t a nervous ending for Thomas Tuchel and his men after a difficult few weeks. That is, of course, alluding to the ownership situation at Stamford Bridge, following the sanctions placed on owner Roman Abramovich by both the UK Government and the European Union.
The 55-year-old has had a freeze placed on all of his assets in the UK, with the Government’s report describing him as a “Pro-Kremlin oligarch” that has close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Roman Abramovich has always denied having links with the Russian leader.
