Chelsea drawn against Lille in Champions League Round of 16, this time for real

The draw for the Round of 16 of the Champions League had to be redone after a technical error made the first attempt null and void. But as fate would have it, just like before, Chelsea got drawn against Lille once again, and this time correctly

The first leg will take place between February 15 and 23, at the Bridge, with the second leg to follow at Stade Pierre-Mauroy between March 8 and 16.

As runners-up in group H to Juventus, Chelsea were in the unseeded pot alongside Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid, Sporting CP, Inter Milan, Benfica, Villarreal and RB Salzburg. On the other side, in the seeded pot of first-place finishers were Ajax, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Lille, Juve, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United — with Chelsea only able to be drawn against the first four as per competition rules.

This will be our third and fourth meetings with Lille, after playing them twice in the group stage two seasons ago, in 2019-20. Chelsea won both games 2-1.

The, this time legal, draw for the Champions League Round of 16 is as follows, with lower seeds playing first at home:

Red Bull Salzburg vs. Bayern Munich
Sporting CP vs. Manchester City
Benfica vs. Ajax
CHELSEA vs. Lille
Atlético Madrid vs. Manchester United
Villarreal vs. Juventus
Inter Milan vs. Liverpool
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Real Madrid