Thomas Tuchel: Chelsea boss hails mentality of players following 2-1 win at Lille in Champions League last 16

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel says his players «dug in» and «did what was necessary» as they eased into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with victory in Lille. Despite falling behind on the night to a Burak Yilmaz penalty, the visitors turned things around either side of half-time thanks to goals from Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta. Ad/> The build-up to the game had been overshadowed by the ramifications caused by Roman Abramovich's ownership of the club, but there were no signs of distractions on the pitch as Chelsea brushed aside their Ligue 1 opponents 4-1 on aggregate to advance in Europe.

The Emirates FA CupChelsea back down over request to play Boro FA Cup tie behind closed doorsYESTERDAY AT 13:20 «It's so nice that so many fans are here to support the team, it feels brilliant,» Tuchel told BT Sport following their victory. «The quarter-finals is a big step. We showed resilience and mentality to overcome difficulties.

»We did what was necessary. We dug in and got a deserved win. It's difficult here." He added: «Chelsea has this kind of culture within the club where we work every day.

What I found from day one was a football first mentality. Everybody pushes the first team every three days, everybody goes to the limit and is focused on football. »We've been trying to implement an atmosphere.

This culture is already installed and this helps us now to focus with difficult and distracting times because it's always there. Real, PSG, Barca — where should Haaland move next? 'I was being human' — Rashford reacts to altercation with Man Utd supporters «We encourage the players. It feels so good we can still produce results and I'm proud.» Despite a successful night in France, Tuchel criticised the pitch and