Lille's attempt to overturn a two-goal deficit against Chelsea failed gallantly on Wednesday night at the Stade Pierre Mauroy as they lost 2-1 to the European champions.
Jocelyn Gourvennec's men remained true to their word and chased the game from the outset against a side that could afford to leave 115 million euros worth of talent in the shape of Romelu Lukaku on the bench.
Instead, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel started with Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic in front of a three-man midfield.
The hosts - roared on by their fans - buzzed purposefully forcing two early corners against a Chelsea defence that appeared stolid in the face of such effervescence.
Andreas Christensen's foul on Jonathan David 20 metres out after 10 minutes gave Gabriel Gudmundsson and Burak Yilmaz the chance to set their sights at Edouard Mendy's goal.
Yilmaz fired over the bar.
But Lille's early efforts brought no breakthrough and Chelsea began to control the ball but without showing any penetration themselves.
Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho in the Chelsea midfield seemed in little hurry to set up the goal that would effectively kill off Lille who were trying to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time.
Change
Chelsea were forced into a change when Christensen suffered an injury. Trevor Chalobah - one of the products of the Chelsea academy - replaced him and was promptly booked for a foul on David.
The fault fired up the crowd sensing the 22-year-old might be a dismissal in the offing.
In the scuffle from the resulting free-kick Jorginho handled in the penalty area as Chelsea cleared their lines. Referee David Massa missed the infringement but he was alerted by the video assistant referee.
After checking the pitchside monitor, Massa pointed to the spot to an enormous roar.
Yilmaz rifled confidently into the top right hand corner of Mendy's goal to make it 2-1 on aggregate to Chelsea and reanimate the 49,000 fans seven minutes from the pause.
But in first half-stoppage time, following an expansive move, Jorginho atoned for his earlier sin.
The Italian's stabbed pass cut through the Lille back line and Pulisic and slotted the ball slickly into the net past the Lille goalkeeper Léo Jardim.
Effort
At 1-1 on the night, Lille's task remained the same. But they had only 45 minutes remaining.
For ever and day among the Lille diehards, there'll be a "what if?"
What might have they been able to achieve had Xeka's header not hit the post after 62 minutes?
After that nearly moment, Lille continued to harry and hustle but Tuchel's players soaked up the pressure and the time.
And then they struck again in the 71st minute following another patient construction. On this occasion Mason Mount swept the ball across the area from the left for skipper César Azpilicueta who brushed off Timothy Weah and forced the ball past Jardim with his knee.
That made it 4-1 on aggregate and off came Jorginho and Pulisic for Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Lukaku. Academy product and record signing respectively.
It was over.
Lille's faithful waved their flags as the end of the campaign approached. And they lustily sang their songs to their heroes.
No history. But honour.
"Everyone can be proud," said Gourvennec. "The players - who never gave up and the fans - who were exceptional. It would have been incredible if we'd come back. We almost did."
