Views from the pressbox: Chelsea Prove they're better off without Romelu Lukaku

One of the things we all love about the Champions League is the drama. For as far back as memory can stretch, Europe’s elite competition has always provided excitement. Chelsea vs Lille was no different. Not only would the recently crowned World Champions and European champions take on the title holders from France, but there was also an underlying feeling of elation because Romelu Lukaku was dropped.

Walking into Stamford Bridge there was an honest air of anticipation, the team news dropped and everyone that had checked their Phones after stepping out of Fulham Broadway, seemed pumped to see their team play. How justified were Blues in feeling that way? Some would argue more than justified.

Since ‘that interview’ where Lukaku infamously spoke of his love of Inter and lamented Chelsea’s tactical set up he just hasn’t been the same. Some would even argue Chelsea’s £90m striker is still yet to arrive and vindicate his lofty price tag. From his body language, to his inability to really thrive in Chelsea’s current set up Lukaku has been nothing more than a disappointment in recent weeks.

Thomas Tuchel protected his Belgian striker in the week saying:

"He's in the spotlight and we'll protect him. Romelu will always be part of the solution,

“sometimes it's like this with strikers if they struggle a little bit with self-confidence and to find the space to get involved with a good defensive side.

"Of course it's not what we want and what Romelu wants but it's also not the time to laugh about him and make jokes about him."

However after watching Chelsea cruise pass Lille in what was an efficient performance, its difficult to imagine Lukaku doing well in this side.

From the word off, Chelsea had an impetus, coming close early on with Christian Pulisic being denied within the first few seconds. Kai Havertz was the man to open the scoring after eight minutes. Crazy what one can do when you’re not doing the leg work of a disinterested no.9. In all seriousness though, Chelsea looked a lot more fluid in attacks, able to sustain them better and therefore create higher quality oppurtunities.

The performance was far from perfect, as there were spells in the game that would have likely cured sleeplessness but there was no need for an overly exciting display. As we saw in the early stages of the season, Chelsea are a side that get a lot of joy from set-pieces and from defenders chipping in with goals – not necessarily with huge emphasis on players in forward areas. At this stage of the competition and in the season if you can get the odd goal and keep things tight, you will get wins and you will be successful.

There was very little to write home about after the break. Considering the first yellow card of the game came in the 83rd minute for Ruben Loftus Cheek who replaced an injured Mateo Kovacic, summed up the feel of the game. Lille offered very little in the way of a performance and Chelsea’s quality shone through.

N’golo Kante was excellent on the night, and picked up an assist for Chelsea’s second with a driving run from the centre circle to the edge of Lille’s box where he slotted in Christian Pulisic.

Kante’s another one who has and will step up for Chelsea. Night’s like these really do beg the question, how much do Chelsea need Lukaku at the moment.