Romelu Lukaku doesn’t step on the pitch, but Chelsea put more than a foot in the quarter-finals.
Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic got the touches that matter in the absence of the striker, in a 2-0 win over Lille that was so routine it felt more like a Champions League group game than a knock-out. That's a problem for the competition, but the bigger problem for Chelsea – and the main significance from this game – was the fact both Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech went off injured.
They may now join Lukaku on the bench for Sunday’s League Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley, if that’s how Thomas Tuchel goes.
This game was so comfortable that it could be construed the Belgian was being rested for the European champions, such was the lack of challenge.
In the absence of real intrigue on the pitch, though, there was some on the advertising around it, coming from the serious developments of the real world.
Uefa usually attempt to ensure the Champions League takes place in a hermetically-sealed corporate environment, all smooth surfaces where there is only “the game” – but that was a bit difficult here. It was quite the time for the governing body’s marketing department to unveil all of the “road to St Petersburg” branding, just at a time when they have meetings over where it will be moved following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The ground scheduled to host the match is the Gazprom Arena, although Uefa’s rules on sponsorship would have meant it couldn’t be called that on any of their documents on the night, even though the competition is sponsored by the same company. There was naturally much more Gazprom branding than that for St Petersburg at the Bridge, and it just happened to entirely surround the pitch on the electronic boarding in the moments before Havertz’s opener.
The game was even prefaced by Boris Johnson admitting he “misspoke” after he told MPs that Roman Abramovich was “already facing sanctions”, having been directly asked about the Chelsea owner by MP Margaret Hodge.
To Uefa and so many in football, though, these are all discussions for the rest of the world. The show must go on. The game goes on. The more insular storylines go on.
With Chelsea, it was the form – and use – of the most expensive signing in the club’s history.
Lukaku didn’t start, yet the team didn’t start firing.
One of the dominant themes of Chelsea’s campaign up to now has been why they have not maximised their immense resources, either in results or performances. Some of that has been put down to the Belgian, and how he has apparently made their attack less mobile.
With Havertz as a false nine, though, there weren’t exactly more angles or dynamism to Chelsea’s play. Much of it looked the same as ever.
This isn’t to criticise Havertz, who is possibly the highest class of all their recent signings. The only issue, as with a few of Chelsea’s attackers, is that he doesn’t yet have a defined position. He here attempted to slip between the gaps in the manner he is most useful, and it resulted in one glaring opportunity before he eventually got that striker’s finish.
Chelsea’s staff would say the primary problem is not the current attackers, though. It is the absence of the main wing-backs. Tuchel calls Reece James and Ben Chilwell his “No 10s”, and their range serves to transform Chelsea’s back five into an attacking seven in an instant. Without them, Tuchel’s side are that bit stodgier, and that bit more predictable.
The hope is that Ziyech and Kovacic don’t join them on the sidelines for long, as they have been crucial in adding some attacking vibrancy.
Kovacic’s surges have seen him add a dimension to both Chelsea’s game and his own, while Ziyech’s flawless delivery is often precisely what they need in preciously tight games.
It was the Moroccan’s perfect corner that ensured Havertz only had to get his head on it.
Their injuries nevertheless made N’Golo Kante’s resurgence all the more timely.
The midfielder was at his domineering best as he just strode through the Lille half on the counter-attack, before slipping the ball to Pulisic running alongside him. The American forward deftly lifted the ball over Leo Jardim, to be met with chants of “USA! USA! USA!”
Lille had actually been fairly solid, and occasionally posed a few threats – particularly through Jonathan David – but the French champions have been a club pushed to the limit.
Chelsea just always had more. The Champions League last 16 could certainly do with more edge.
