Thomas Tuchel could even afford a little smile on the touchline as the clock ticked to 90 minutes in Lille.
His ability to shut out the deafening noise surrounding Chelsea seems to know no limits.
At the Stade Pierre Mauroy, with sanctions, buyouts and even transport logistics swirling around his head, he managed to guide his team into the last eight of the Champions League with a performance of resilience and solidarity.
Forget Chelsea’s off-the-pitch problems, the French champions caused them enough on it as Lille refused to accept the tie was over, despite trailing 2-0 from the first leg.
They took the lead through Burak Yilmaz’s first-half penalty – and even after Christian Pulisic equalised before the break, they came out with an undimmed sense of purpose for the second 45.
They were within the width of the post of restoring their lead – and then the true effects of the turmoil surrounding the club would have been really put to the test.
Just how much is the uncertainty brought about by the sanctioning of Roman Abramovich playing on the minds of the players? Just how fragile is their confidence?
It is to Tuchel’s credit that there is little evidence of the wider issues engulfing the club being allowed to seep into the dressing room.
It is not that the players are deaf to the problems the club faces. Rather Tuchel has managed to focus minds to the point that they have won all but one of the six games they have played since Abramovich’s grip on the club began to loosen.
The only defeat came against Liverpool, less than 24 hours after the Russian announced his intentions to hand over stewardship, and even then Jurgen Klopp’s side required penalties to win the Carabao Cup.
The captain delivers! 💪
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 16, 2022
You can decide if César Azpilicueta meant this one, but Chelsea won't care either way 😅
Ahead on the night and 4-1 up on aggregate... #UCL pic.twitter.com/6bbdcvOBtB
Even in the context of the past couple of weeks, Chelsea were never expected to let their two-goal lead slip in Lille, but the character shown in a 2-1 win spoke volumes about their credentials in Europe.
They will face sterner tests in the rest of the competition, but this was a significant statement of intent after the tie was blown wide open by Yilmaz’s 38th-minute penalty.
It was all of Chelsea’s making.
First, Trevoh Chalobah – less than a minute after coming on for Andreas Christensen – needlessly brought down Jonathan David on the edge of the box. He could be forgiven for not being up to the speed of the game yet – but his error triggered a series of mistakes that proved costly.
From Jonathan Bamba’s resulting free-kick Edouard Mendy made a mess of trying to deal with the cross.
Lille kept the ball in the danger zone and when Jorginho tried to clear under pressure from Xeka, he handled in the box. It took VAR and a referee Davide Massa to watch the incident again before a spot kick was awarded and Yilmaz made no mistake.
Suddenly it was game on and Chelsea looked vulnerable. But a potentially tense half-time team talk from Tuchel was made considerably easier when Chelsea equalised just before the interval.
It was a goal of real quality and out of keeping with what the visitors had managed to produce for much of the first 45 minutes.
Jorginho’s disguised pass with the outside of his boot completely dissected the Lille defence and found the run of Pulisic. The American had a tight angle to aim at, but drilled a low shot into the corner to put Tuchel’s side well in control of the tie once again.
If Chelsea thought that would kill Lille’s spirit, they were wrong.
Yilmaz headed narrowly wide when getting above Chalobah. The same player then turned provider, crossing for Xeka, who powered a header against the post with Mendy rooted.
It was another test of nerves – and yet again Chelsea came through.
And when Azpilicueta met substitute Mason Mount’s cross at the far post in the 71st-minute, it truly was game over.
