First-half goals from Tammy Abraham and Cesar Azpilicueta set the Blues on their way against a second-string Lille side, but a late goal from the French visitors threatened to derail their progress.
Loic Remy’s effort on 78 minutes meant the Chelsea faithful endured a nervous few final minutes, aware that defeat would see them slip out of contention at the expense of Ajax.
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But Frank Lampard’s team held on to finish second in group H behind Valencia and one point ahead of their Dutch rivals, who lost 1-0 at home to the Spanish outfit.
Last season’s semi-finalists, Ajax have paid the price for selling off so many of their squad in the summer, and their failure to progress is a bitter disappointment after their thrilling brand of football last year.
Twitchy
Chelsea have now made it to the knockout stages in 15 of their 16 Champions League campaigns, with 2012-13 their only failure, but Lampard admitted it had been squeaky bum time in the final ten minutes.
“It did get twitchy,” he said. “We need to take our chances better. At 2-0 I thought it was not quite done and when Lille scored it made it a more nervy finish to the game than it needed to be.”
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Reds also through
Defending champions Liverpool picked up the points they needed to qualify from group E, but they were made to work hard for it by Red Bull Salzburg.
The Austrian outfit threw everything they had at the visitors in the first 45 minutes, looking to add to their recent tally of 87 goals in 24 matches. But the Reds stayed strong, kept a clean sheet, and then hit their hosts with two goals in two minutes after the break.
Naby Keita headed in Sadio Mane’s cross on 57 minutes and then Mohamed Salah fired home from a tight angle to make sure of their passage into the last 16.
“I really love it that my team is so smart that they listen and they put in a shift in like that,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. “Salzburg was unbelievably strong, especially in the first half, but we as well were ready for that fight.”
Napoli thrashed Genk 4-0 to finish second in group E, but an hour after the win the Italian club parted company with head coach Carlo Ancelotti, who is already being linked to both Arsenal and Everton.
Ansu Fati became the youngest goalscorer in Champions League history as he scored a late winner for Barcelona to end Inter Milan’s hopes of reaching the last 16. The 17-year-old converted Luis Suarez’s pass four minutes from time to seal a 2-1 win at the San Siro.
The Spanish giants had already qualified for the knockout phase, but their win on the road, coupled with Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 victory at home against Slavia Prague, means Inter finish third with the second qualifying spot going to the Germans.
“I played the give and go with Luis and when I scored the stadium just went silent, I’m super-happy,” said Fati. “It’s a dream… you look around and think: ‘what have I done?’”
Two spots left in last 16
There are still two qualification places up for grabs on Wednesday evening. Manchester City are through as group C winners and it will be between Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb and Atalanta for the runners-up spot.
Man City are away at Dinamo Zagreb (5.55pm, live on BT Sport 3) while Shakhtar host Atalanta (5.55pm, live on BT Sport 1).
Juventus have won group D but second place is yet to be confirmed with Atlético Madrid and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in contention. On Wednesday Atlético host Lokomotiv Moscow (8pm, live on BT Sport Extra 3) and Leverkusen are at home against Juve (8pm, live on BT Sport Extra 2).
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Fixtures, permutations and draw details
When is the draw for the last 16?
The draw for the Champions League round of 16 takes place at 11am (GMT) on Monday 16 December in Nyon, Switzerland. The draw features the eight group winners (seeded) and eight runners-up (unseeded). Two final spots will be decided on Wednesday evening.
Teams through to the last 16Seeded (group winners)
Barcelona (group F)
Bayern Munich (group B)
Juventus (group D)
RB Leipzig (group G)
Liverpool (group E)
Manchester City (group C)
Paris Saint-Germain (group A)
Valencia (group H)
Unseeded (group runners-up)
Borussia Dortmund (group F)
Chelsea (group H)
Lyon (group G)
Napoli (group E)
Real Madrid (group A)
Tottenham Hotspur (group B)
Wednesday 11 December: fixtures and permutations
Group A
Club Bruges vs. Real Madrid (8pm, live on BT Sport ESPN)
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Galatasaray (8pm, live on BT Sport Extra 4)
Permutations (according to Uefa)
PSG are through as group winners
Real Madrid are through
Club Brugge cannot finish in the top two. They will finish third if they beat Madrid, or if Galatasaray fail to beat PSG
Galatasaray cannot finish in the top two. They will be confirmed in fourth place if they lose to PSG
Group B
Bayern Munich vs. Tottenham Hotspur (8pm, live on BT Sport Extra 2)
Olympiakos vs. Red Star Belgrade (8pm, live on BT Sport Extra 5)
Permutations
Bayern are through as group winners
Tottenham are through
Red Star are unable to finish in the top two. They will finish in third if they avoid defeat at Olympiacos
Olympiacos are unable to finish in the top two. They will finish in third if they beat Red Star
Group C
Dinamo Zagreb vs. Manchester City (5.55pm, live on BT Sport 3)
Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Atalanta (5.55pm, live on BT Sport 1)
Permutations
Man City are through as group winners
Shakhtar will go through if they beat Atalanta, or if they draw and Dinamo fail to win
Dinamo will go through if they beat City and Shakhtar do not beat Atalanta
Atalanta will go through if they beat Shakhtar and Dinamo do not beat City
Group D
Atlético Madrid vs. Lokomotiv Moscow (8pm, live on BT Sport Extra 3)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. Juventus (8pm, live on BT Sport Extra 2)
Permutations
Juventus are through as group winners
Atlético will go through if they beat Lokomotiv or if Leverkusen fail to beat Juventus
Leverkusen will go through if they beat Juventus and Atlético do not beat Lokomotiv
Lokomotiv will finish fourth
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