Lampard: I didn’t realise Real Madrid were that good

Frank Lampard was appointed to the role of interim Chelsea coach last week and was also given an extremely challenging task. To try and find a way to knock out Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals. But he may have underestimated it a little.

Before the game, both coach Frank Lampard and midfielder Enzo Fernandez spoke of their lack of fear of Real Madrid. That they have respect for their opponents, but they certainly won’t be afraid to play.

This was already somewhat contradicted by Lampard’s defensive line-up, where he sent five defenders on the pitch, three more defensive midfielders and only João Félix and Raheem Sterling were to take care of the attack.

Real Madrid were clearly the better team throughout the game and had several opportunities to score. Chelsea only created two chances, in the first half they were saved by Courtois, in the second one Rüdiger intervened with a slip.

Thus, the 2: 0 result is still merciful for the Blues in the final, as Real often lacked composure in the final stages and failed to finish several promising chances.

Vinícius in particular gave the Chelsea defence major problems, while Wesley Fofana and Reece James had their hands full.

“We didn’t realise Real Madrid were that good,” said Chelsea coach Lampard. “We didn’t trust ourselves for a while and they caught us by surprise with their quality,” Lampard lamented.

Chelsea has less than a week to prepare for the rematch and try to do something about the quarterfinals. But they are four games without scoring a goal and turning around the defending Champions League champions’ two-goal lead without conceding will be an extremely difficult task.

Source: MARCA