Lille not the same team as last year but still rise up in big games and could shock Chelsea - Inside Europe

On Tuesday evening Chelsea will welcome Lille to Stamford Bridge for the first leg of their last 16 Champions League knockout match. This will be the third and fourth time that the two clubs have played each other, after Chelsea recorded two 2-1 victories during the 2019-20 Champions League group stage, with Tammy Abraham scoring in both matches. Ad/> Of course the two sides have another link in Eden Hazard, a legend for both sides, but in an era where big sides play each other more and more often there is a degree of relative unknown in this tie, a real lack of familiarity.

Champions League'Quite inconsistent' — What to make of Atletico ahead of Man Utd clash — Inside Europe2 HOURS AGO Fans will know that Lille were one of the best stories in Europe, winning Ligue 1 against the backdrop of the riches of PSG, their first title since Hazard left the team. But how have they been getting on this season? In order to find out we got in touch with Cyril Morin from Eurosport France. What’s been going on with Lille this season? They’re down in 11th! Things have been a bit tricky at Lille for a while, really even during the season they won the league.

There have been questions over ownership and how the club is being run, plus they lost manager Christophe Galtier over the summer. “Yes, definitely because of Galtier’s departure,” Morin says when asked about what’s caused the slump. “Last year, they experienced a very weird season with a change of president and a new owner.

While Lopez [the old owner] and, most importantly, Luis Campos [former sporting director] left the club in the middle of the season and Galtier was the only survivor of this situation. “He’s a top coach when you want a compact team, very hard to surprise. />