Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid, who are into the semi-finals once again. The consistency that the team have shown in the competition must be commended and nobody even comes close in this regard. On the other hand, consistency and form is exactly what the Blues have been looking for throughout this campaign.
They find themselves sitting at 11th in the Premier League, have lost every game since the arrival of Frank Lampard as caretaker manager and have nothing left to play for this season after their elimination from the Champions League. That is if they do not get dragged into a relegation struggle.
Considering the circumstances, Chelsea were quite good on the night. In fact, they were the much better team in the first half but were let down by their finishing once again, with N’Golo Kante and Marc Cucurella failing to make the most of golden opportunities. A brace from Rodrygo put the game to bed in the second half.
Despite that, Lampard believes that Chelsea were the better team on the night. As reported by BBC, the caretaker manager said:
"“We had lots of crosses and lots of players in good positions so I will never criticise the lads for that – it’s just the fact that if they took any of those chances. If the tie went to 2-1 at any point, you really would have felt the crowd turn.“We were playing world-class opposition there and we were, for me, the better team and had chances.“It’s the first game since I’ve been back that I’ve seen the things and we’ve really been implementing them – and that’s something that we want to continue for the rest of the season.“Now that standard cannot drop. That’s the one message, once the dust settles on this, in-house.”"
Lampard makes big claim despite losing to Real Madrid
In many ways, Chelsea were the better team on the night. But ultimately, football is about taking the chances that you get.
Unfortunately for the Blues, they could not do that, while Real Madrid did. A brace from Rodrygo decided the game and put the defending champions into the quarter-finals.
That is going to be a big test though, as they will come up against either Manchester City or Bayern Munich. Both are very strong teams. But with Pep Guardiola’s side having a 3-0 lead from the first leg, it would be a surprise if we do not see a repeat of last season’s semi finals.