Chelsea look to fly with broken wing against Madrid
London, April 17
Chelsea are not a “broken” team this season and co-owner Todd Boehly had every right to address the squad he has invested in, manager Frank Lampard said today ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal against Real Madrid.
Chelsea, who trail Real Madrid 2-0 on aggregate after losing the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, come into the game on the back of a six-match winless run, with interim boss Lampard losing his first three games in charge.
With Chelsea 17 points off the top four despite spending more than 600 million euros on new players, winning the Champions League is the London club’s only realistic chance of qualifying for the lucrative competition next season.
The situation is similar to when Chelsea finished sixth in the league in 2011-12 when Lampard was a player at the club, but they qualified for the Champions League after winning the competition.
“We are not where we want to be. I think the word ‘broken’ is a bit much. The league position is reality and we are 2-0 down (in this tie),” Lampard told reporters ahead of tomorrow’s second leg. “We have to work against that, I don’t think anything that happens tomorrow will be better than when we won the Champions League (in 2012). It’s down to us as a team to play with desire and know-how to turn this game around. I’ve been here too many times on a Champions League night not to understand that the atmosphere is going to be great. It is down to us to engage the crowd,” he said. — Reuters
Unrest a gain for Bayern, feels Pep
Manchester: The row between Bayern Munich teammates Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane could actually make the German side more dangerous in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said. Mane was fined after hitting Sane following last week’s 3-0 loss at City in the first leg. “Sometimes you need conflict to make the team more together,” said Pep Guardiola. “It is not a weak point for them, it’s a strong point.” reuters
