Unvaccinated Chelsea players set to miss Champions League tie in Lille

Chelsea hasn't disclosed how many players are unvaccinated

Chelsea's unvaccinated players are set to miss next month's Champions League tie at Lille after Uefa updated its covid-19 rules. The Blues travel to Stade Pierre Mauroy on March 16 to face French outfit Lille, however, France does not currently allow unvaccinated people to enter the country. It was thought that Chelsea were attempting to move the second leg of their last-16 tie to a neutral venue in order to use their full squad.  However, Uefa's new rules, released on Tuesday, mean that switching the venue will not be a possibility. Chelsea - who secured their place in the final of the Club World Cup with victory over Al Hilal - has not disclosed who or how many players are unvaccinated. Thomas Tuchel recently admitted that the Blues were facing 'huge consequences' if unvaccinated players cannot travel to France for the Champions League clash. While the German insisted that he believes players should be given freedom of choice when it comes to getting vaccinated against covid, he did reveal that his side could face 'huge consequences' with the new rules.

"At some point everybody not vaccinated will face some consequences," he said.

"Does it make it wrong that they are not (jabbed)? I simply don’t know. I took a decision for myself. The majority took the decision to get vaccinated.

"For us, isolated as a football team, there can be huge consequences if players are not allowed to travel to France and this can create problems for us.

"We may not be able to use key players, but we are aware of it and it is a constant noise."

Chelsea will host Lille in the first leg on 22 February with the return leg in France on 16 March.

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