Tonight is a final roll of the dice for Chelsea and a chance for Frank Lampard to add to his legend at Stamford Bridge.
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg last week, few give the Blues a chance of mounting a comeback against Champions League kings Real Madrid and saving their season. Three straight defeats since Lampard took over as caretaker manager means their preparation could not have been much worse.
But, in a campaign that Todd Boehly labelled “embarrassing” during a dressing-room speech to the players on Saturday, European nights have offered Chelsea some salvation. Graham Potter’s biggest wins came against Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and RB Salzburg, and Lampard was part of some famous comebacks as a Blues player.
He referenced their turnaround against Napoli in 2012, when they came back from 3-1 down in the first leg on their way to winning the Champions League under Roberto Di Matteo, who had just replaced Andre Villas-Boas with the team on a dismal run.
Lampard scored a penalty that night and those moments, against all odds, are part of his legacy. Tonight, he wants his players to create another “special” night Stamford Bridge. Sources close to Lampard say a chance to topple Real Madrid and add to his Chelsea legacy was impossible to resist when he was approached about a return.
“Frank is a legend no matter what, but it would enhance his legacy and I am sure he sees that as a pull,” said his former team-mate Gary Cahill. “After his experience in 2012, I am sure he feels like he can do something in the Champions League. I am sure everyone feels the Premier League is pretty much finished, so it is just about ticking those games off. The Champions League is the big one.”
While there are parallels between the 2012 team and the one Lampard has inherited, Chelsea face a titanic challenge in trying to overturn a two-goal deficit tonight.
Madrid showed how dangerous they can be last week. Chelsea have to go for it and Vinicius Junior, who set up both goals for Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio in the first leg, could run riot if they leave too many spaces at the back. The Brazilian tore Chelsea apart at the Bernabeu and Lampard has been working on a plan to better stop him tonight.
Without the injured Kalidou Koulibaly and suspended Ben Chilwell, Chelsea will likely switch from the back three they used in the first leg to a back four. Benzema has 20 goals in 26 matches against English sides and, along with team-mates such as Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, has his sights on a glamour semi-final with Manchester City.
Lampard needs some leaders in the Chelsea dressing room to emerge on a make-or-break night. He said: “We had many moments on that run [in 2012], difficulties against Barcelona and Napoli.
“It was a huge run with a lot of big achievements. For us, considering the result now, considering the team we are up against and the moment we are in, we have to fight really hard to make it happen, so of course that would be special.
“We have to be careful to compare to previous moments or games because, for Fernando Torres to go through and score that goal for Chelsea [against Barcelona in the 2012 semi-final], there is a big body of work behind that. The only thing when you look back on those things is that it is always possible to create, to start that story.”
Madrid appeared dead and buried against City last season before they scored three goals after the 89th minute in the second leg of their semi-final, so Carlo Ancelotti knows all about comebacks. They also knocked out Chelsea on their way to winning their 14th Champions League title, despite the Blues having a 3-0 lead in their second leg.
“We’re not thinking that it’s easy,” said Ancelotti. “It’s the complete opposite of what we think. I know this competition very well and what can happen in football. Last year we thought it would be the most difficult game against Chelsea and we had the advantage, and what happened happened. We struggled and want to suffer less.”
BT Sport is the exclusive home of the UEFA Champions League. Watch Chelsea v Real Madrid live on BT Sport 1 on Tuesday 18th April from 7pm. For more info, visit bt.com/sport
