Thomas Tuchel says he wants Chelsea to be the side that everyone aims to avoid heading into the Champions League quarter-finals.
The reigning champions kept their title defence on track on Wednesday by advancing to the last eight with a 4-1 aggregate victory over Lille.
Leading 2-0 from the first leg at Stamford Bridge three weeks ago, Tuchel's side fell behind at Stade Pierre-Mauroy to a Burak Yilmaz penalty.
However, Christian Pulisic responded in first-half stoppage time, before Cesar Azpilicueta completed the turnaround with 19 minutes remaining.
Tuchel is hopeful his side will have the fear factor in the quarter-final draw, which takes place on Friday.
The head coach also heaped praise on skipper Azpilicueta, whose last Champions League goal also came against Lille back in December 2019.
"I want us to be the team nobody wants to play," Tuchel said. "That's the role we want to see ourselves in this last eight.
"[Azpilicueta] is maybe the perfect example to describe a person as a leader. He is doing it in good times and bad times, if he is a regular starter or not.
"If he is playing a wing-back, which is maybe not his best position, he is there. We do not need extra, extra at the moment; we just need reliable teamwork and reliable spirit.
"I don't know if Azpi is talking to the players; I just know he is doing what he normally does."
Chelsea are back in action on Sunday, when they travel to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
The build-up to the tie was dominated by the club requesting that home supporters also be blocked from attending the Riverside, after restrictions imposed following the sanctioning of owner Roman Abramovich rendered them unable to sell any tickets beyond the 600 already sold from their away allocation.
The Blues subsequently withdrew the request, which had been met with widespread ridicule and opposition, with Tuchel also welcoming that decision.
"We love to play in front of spectators and I don't think the spectators of our opponents should suffer from the consequences," he added. "We love to play in front of spectators.
"Me and the team were not involved in this decision. We were happy it was withdrawn."
Celtics make statement with 41-point demolition of Bucks, Ingram bullies Nuggets
The Boston Celtics produced a stunning 140-99 blowout on the road against the full-strength Milwaukee Bucks in Thursday's potential Eastern Conference Finals preview.
Although the Bucks did roll out their full team, they were playing their third game in four days and were on the second leg of a back-to-back, and their fatigue showed in a horrible first half defensively.
The Celtics piled on 34 points in the first quarter, and added another 41 in the second to open up a commanding 75-47 lead at half-time. Instead of coming out of the locker room with extra intensity, the Bucks proceeded to give up another 39 in the third period to kill the game.
Boston's All-Star duo were nearly faultless, led by Jayson Tatum's 40 points on 12-of-18 shooting. He finished eight-of-10 from three-point range, and a perfect eight-of-eight from the free throw line while adding eight rebounds and zero turnovers.
Jaylen Brown was just as impressive as he made his way to 30 points on 13-of-20 shooting with five rebounds, five assists and just one turnover, while Sixth Man of the Year candidate Malcolm Brogdon chipped in 14 points (six-of-13), five assists and four steals off the bench.
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo led his side with 24 points and seven rebounds through three quarters before sitting out the last, although he was a disappointing 11-of-27 from the field and missed all five of his three-point attempts.
The win pulled the Celtics (53-24) to within two games of the Bucks (55-22) in the race for the Eastern Conference's top seed, and for the best record in the league.
Ingram shows recent improvement is no fluke
New Orleans Pelicans wing Brandon Ingram has performed at an All-NBA level since the All-Star break and continued to shine in a 107-88 triumph over the Nikola Jokic-less Denver Nuggets.
Ingram, 25, posted the first triple-double of his career last Thursday and followed it with a career-high 13 assists on Saturday, and he now has his second triple-double after 31 points (13-of-22), 11 rebounds and 10 assists against the Nuggets.
Across his past eight games, Ingram is averaging 29.6 points, 8.3 assists and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 51.8 per cent from the field and 48 per cent from deep.
The result improved the Pelicans' record to 39-38, leapfrogging the Minnesota Timberwolves into the Western Conference's seventh seed, with Zion Williamson's return potentially imminent after working out on-court prior to Thursday's game.
Rybakina books place in Miami Open final after extending winning streak to 13
Elena Rybakina is now one win away from completing the Sunshine Double after defeating Jessica Pegula 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 in Thursday's Miami Open semi-final.
Only four women have ever claimed the Sunshine Double – which requires winning both the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open. Steffi Graf did it in both 1994 and 1996, Kim Clijsters did it in 2005, Victoria Azarenka accomplished the feat in 2016 and current world number one Iga Swiatek did it just 12 months ago.
Rybakina sent a message to the tennis world as she knocked out both world number one Iga Swiatek and world number two Aryna Sabalenka to take home the Indian Wells crown, and she has carried that form into Miami.
After prevailing in three-setters against Anna Kalinskaya and Paula Badosa, the Kazakhstan representative has now rattled off consecutive straight sets victories against Elise Mertens, Martina Trevisan and Pegula to extend her winning streak to 13 matches.
Against Pegula, Rybakina served 11 aces to the American's one, and in the process she became the first woman to serve at least 10 aces during five matches in the same tournament since Serena Williams back at Wimbledon in 2016.
By securing the first-set tiebreaker, Rybakina claimed her tour-leading seventh tiebreaker win of the season, with a perfect 7-0 record.
She will meet the winner between Petra Kvitova and Sorana Cirstea in the final after the Czech veteran emerged victorious 6-4 3-6 6-3 in her quarter-final against Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The neck-and-neck contest saw Kvitova only narrowly edge the total point count 96-91, but she created nine break points to Alexandrova's six.
Kvitova, 33, is now one win away from her 41st WTA singles final, where she would be seeking her 30th WTA title, and her ninth at the WTA 1000 level. It would be her first at this level since the 2018 Madrid Open, following defeats in the finals of the 2019 Dubai Championships, the 2020 Qatar Open and the 2022 Cincinnati Open.
Alcaraz continues quest for Sunshine Double with Fritz win, Medvedev and Khachanov progress
World number one Carlos Alcaraz made it 10 wins in a row in Miami and kept alive his hopes of a rare Sunshine Double as he beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in Thursday's quarter-finals.
Alcaraz swept aside the 2022 Indian Wells champion 6-4 6-2 in a lopsided Miami Open contest which lasted only 79 minutes, with the Spaniard breaking Fritz in the opening game of both sets.
Both players hit 20 winners, including 11 each on their respective forehands, but Fritz almost doubled Alcaraz' unforced errors count (28-13).
The 19-year-old was impressive from the baseline and overwhelmed Fritz in the end. The American only won 38 per cent on his second serve.
Alcaraz, who won the Indian Wells title a fortnight ago, remains on track to become the eighth male to win the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami), with Roger Federer the last to achieve that in 2017.
The Spaniard would join Federer (2005, 2006, 2017), Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016), Andre Agassi (2001), Marcelo Rios (1998), Pete Sampras (1994), Michael Chang (1992) and Jim Courier (1991) in achieving the Sunshine Double.
Alcaraz will take on Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, after the duo faced off in the Indian Wells last four a fortnight ago, with the Spaniard winning in straight sets.
In-form Daniil Medvedev progressed to the semi-finals with a 6-3 7-5 victory over American qualifier Chrstopher Eubanks, who had enjoyed a dream run in Miami.
Medvedev has a 27-3 record this season and will pursue a fifth straight ATP Tour final when he takes on compatriot Karen Khachanov in the semi-finals.
Khachanov, who made this year's Australian Open semi-finals, defeated Francisco Cerundolo 6-3 6-2 in 76 minutes.
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