Impressive Blues end wait for last eight spot

HAKIM Ziyech’s sublime counter-attack finish helped steer Chelsea past Atletico Madrid 2-0 at Stamford Bridge last night and into a first Champions League quarter-final in seven years.

Timo Werner and Kai Havertz combined to create Ziyech’s goal of graft and guile as Chelsea sunk 10-man Atletico 2-0 in the last-16 second leg in west London, and 3-0 on aggregate.

Emerson Palmieri drilled home late on to gloss the score and seal a fine victory, after Diego Simeone’s Atletico had seen Stefan Savic sent off late on for elbowing Toni Rudiger.

Ziyech’s first goal in 20 Chelsea appearances proved enough to settle an absorbing contest, where N’Golo Kante and Rudiger excelled for the hosts.

Boss Thomas Tuchel has required just 51 days at the Stamford Bridge helm to qualify for the Champions League quarters – a feat that had last been achieved by the Blues in 2014.

Former Paris St Germain manager Tuchel has pulled off quite the extended Chelsea honeymoon period, trading the muddled for the resolute, and overseeing 13 matches without defeat.

The Blues’ last five Champions League campaigns petered out at the last-16 stage, but Tuchel’s blueprint and his man management has paid immediate dividend.

Kante’s transformation encapsulates Chelsea’s revitalisation under Tuchel.

Frank Lampard had been determined to deploy Kante in an inside-right role, unfamiliar to France’s World Cup-winning defensive midfield linchpin.

That alteration failed to suit either Lampard’s tactical approach, or Kante’s strengths.

No sooner had Tuchel arrived, however, than Kante was restored to his game-breaking role at the base of midfield that so underscored Premier League title triumphs for both Leicester and Chelsea.

And here, when Chelsea needed his magnetic midfield qualities most, Kante delivered a vintage display.

Chelsea’s 11th clean sheet in those 13 games under Tuchel provided the foundation for another landmark result, with the Blues coping manfully without the suspended Mason Mount and Jorginho, and injured duo Thiago Silva and Tammy Abraham. n BAYERN Munich breezed into the quarter-finals after a comfortable win over Lazio.

The defending champions reached the last eight with a 2-1 victory at the Allianz Arena.

Robert Lewandowski’s first-half penalty and Eric Maxim ChoupoMoting’s goal eased them to an 6-2 aggregate win to keep them on course for a seventh title.

Marco Parolo did pull a late goal back for spirited Lazio but they never looked like fighting back from their first-leg defeat.