Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Lille on Wednesday should give potential new owners a more than adequate idea of the kind of winning machine they are hoping to buy.
And this is despite the Blues not being particularly impressive at Stade Pierre Mauroy, in fact they appeared all set instead for a tough evening when Burak Yilmaz converted his 38th-minute penalty, but a plucky Christian Pulisic’s clinical finish just before the break and a second-half effort from Cesar Azpilicueta eased them into the Champions League quarterfinals.
The draw takes place in Nyon on Friday, hours before the deadline set by New York-based merchant bank Raine Group for interested parties to table their formal offers to buy the world and European champions, valued by owner Roman Abramovich at £3 billion.
They are still buying a team competing in Europe courtesy of the sort of display that underlines their pedigree at this level: Finding a way to achieve their aim despite an underwhelming 90 minutes because they still mustered enough quality in the final third to dispatch their industrious but limited hosts.
Preparations have not been easy. Chelsea’s last visit to this ground was in October 2019 also with a 2-1 win but in the group stage under Frank Lampard.
Despite catering and travel being issues with much greater urgency on the agenda these days given the restrictions imposed upon them as part of the licence granted by the UK government to continue operating in the wake of Abramovich being sanctioned for alleged links to Russia president Vladimir Putin, the club’s travel plans for Lille were finalised prior to last Thursday’s government intervention.
For Tuchel, likeable and erudite, he is determined to continue navigating a fiendishly difficult path while straddling a dual-rolerole as coach-cum-ambassador.
Given that enterprising new owners would more likely than not desire to have their own head coach helming the team, it is appreciably hard to imagine a coach negotiating this trying period on and off the pitch spell better than the seemingly granite-chiselled German tactician with his fortitude, particularly given results have remained positive since Abramovich first hinted at a separation the day before Chelsea faced Liverpool in last month’s Carabao Cup Final.
“We are all competitors and I always experienced from day one once I was part of the family, a very competitive spirit and a very competitive club,” said Tuchel.
“Chelsea is so clear what it demands from every employee and from every player: play your role, play to the limit, live up to it and take your responsibility.
“This is what Chelsea is about and that sharpens your mentality and brings out the best in you because it is normal to do it on a daily basis. Because this mentality is installed over years and years, over the decades, that’s why it is possible that we can stay focused.
“It plays a big part in why we can produce results as we do in the moment now when things are uncertain and unstable around us — because it is already there.”
Truth be told, it would have taken a gambling maverick to place a bet on the them beating Manchester Cityexpected them to beat in last season’s Champions League final and they did, exonerating themselves beyond all doubts as held their heads up high as the surprise winners of the competition, as in 2012 when changing managers halfway through the season.
And they kept on winning.
It matters not that the source of Abramovich’s wealth has unfortunately cast a stain on their football heritage by generating a debate about the purity of Chelsea’s success in the last two decades as only a dolt wearing blinkers would foolishly deny the efficiency with which they have delivered silverware. A yet unsurpassed haul of 21 trophies since Abramovich bought the club in 2003 is still the record in England.
Jump-start to the recent present and we saw Tuchel opting for the unusual step of adopting a 3-5-2 system to accommodate an additional central midfielder, presumably to shore up central areas and help stifle Lille.
In the end, despite offering at best a passive display in which they barely threatened before Jorginho a £50 million signing, threaded a pass for Pulisic, a £57.6m signing, to combine for a moment of class Lille just simply could not ever hope to eclipse.
“Champions of Europe, we know what we are,” chorused the away fans – awakened from their sanctions-induced stupor – suddenly audible for the first time all night as Pulisic shut the door firmly on the rivals’ hopes of an upset.