Just days after being appointed as the caretaker manager of Chelsea, Frank Lampard will be tasked with taking his team to Santiago Bernabeu for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals against Real Madrid. It goes without saying that the Blues are heavy underdogs going into this game.
By now, it has become clear that Thomas Tuchel had overdelivered during his time at Stamford Bridge because Chelsea are struggling and badly. They sit at 11th in the Premier League and suffered early elimination in both cup competitions.
That is almost unthinkable considering the investment that they have made since the change in ownership. Is it because of bad coaching? Or bad recruitment? Whatever may be the case, Real Madrid will be happy with their position going into the tie against Chelsea.
Chelsea lost this weekend as well, 1-0 to Wolves. But Lampard believes that the game on Wednesday will be completely different. As reported by Independent, the caretaker manager said:
"“Wednesday will be a completely different game.“I’m very happy to be back. We have a huge game waiting for us on Wednesday where everything changes.“It’s a big task managing Chelsea, we know we’re not in a position we want to be in. There’s always a reason for it.“I didn’t expect to solve everything in one day. You have to have more aggression in your game, more speed and more competitive duels which go your way.“The players need to be aware of that because without that you can’t win games. It was interesting to see anyway, I’m here to help with that. It’s not stinging criticism, I know there’s a lot of talent there.”"
Lampard sends message before Real Madrid game in the Champions League
Tactically, of course the game between Chelsea and Real Madrid is going to be different. But at this point of time, it is hard to think of one aspect where the Blues are better than Los Blancos.
Chelsea have not been able to perform all season. And while they have a number of big name talents in the squad, there has not been one standout player that you can think of.
On the other hand, Real Madrid have had their ups and downs as well. But right now, they are on a good run, having won 4-0 against Barcelona at Camp Nou recently. That is expected to give Carlo Ancelotti’s side a major confidence for the rest of the campaign, as they have the Copa del Rey and Champions League to play for, although the La Liga title race might be as good as over.