Watching Romelu Lukaku stretching on the sidelines on Tuesday night at Stamford Bridge as an unused sub brought back some old memories.One of our reporters recalls his childhood days when he played non-league football before pursuing a journalistic career. There was that one guy in their squad, sitting on the bench uncomfortably for the vast part of the game, seldomly gazing towards the coach who was ignoring him whatsoever. He would instruct some of the boys to go and stretch themselves ahead of possible coming in from time to time. But that one kid was always left in despair. So somewhere around the 80-minute mark, he raised his voice and disbelief:”Coach, hey coach! It’s unfair, the guy sitting next to me is preparing to enter the game for the third time, and I still haven’t had a chance to stretch at least once. What’s that all about?”It made them all laugh, of course, except for the disappointed boy himself, but that was the moment the tactician changed his mind and told him to take off the tracksuit and listen to instructions as he’d come in.Seeing Lukaku last night, during Chelsea’s UCL tie against Lille – which would end in a 2-0 win – we couldn’t think of anything but the charming similarity of those cases.Chelsea confident against the French champions, Villareal and Juve share the spoilsShould Lukaku raise his voice, just like our boy? Obviously, the prolific marksman is going through a tough time, and he and the Blues gaffer Thomas Tuchel are at loggerheads over the Belgiums’ role in the team.Those dreadful Romelu’s seven touches of the ball against the Crystal Palace poured in some more tensions between the two, which resulted in benching him for the Lille game. After Tuchel’s compatriot Havertz scored an opener and had a terrific match altogether, the robust forward is one step further away from the starting XI for the upcoming battles.Drogba: ‘I hope Lukaku learned from me’As things stand, it doesn’t bother Tuchel too much in the short term. However, with the decisive part of the season fast approaching, the attacking line comprised solely of Havertz, Mount and Pulisic doesn’t seem intimidating at all nor capable of pushing Chelsea to new silverware. Lukaku’s misuse and Werner’s dreadful scoring output have caused lots of headaches for the German tactician, and that one excellent performance against the reigning French champions shouldn’t deceive anyone.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Manchester City and Liverpool are slowly turning the EPL title chase into a genuine two-horse race, while the next knockout stage of the UCL will be as tricky as it gets for the Blues. PSG or Real Madrid, whoever advances to the 1/4 finals, will represent a massive challenge for the Stamford Bridge outfit.Lukaku-less Chelsea seem rather incapable of leaping over such a high obstacle.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE1/8 finalsTuesdayChelsea – Lille 2-0 (1-0)/Havertz 8 – Pulisic 63/Villareal – Juventus 1-1 (0-1)/Parejo 66 – Vlahovic 1/Wednesday23:00: (4.20) Benfica (3.70) Ajax (1.92)23:00: (2.65) Atl.Madrid (3.05) Man.Utd. (3.05)***odds are subject to change
