Todd Boehly asked Chelsea fans to “have a lot of faith” before kick-off here, but their belief is being tested.
His bold decision last week to sack Graham Potter and hire Frank Lampard as caretaker manager resulted in another defeat that leaves Chelsea facing a Champions League exit.
After arrogantly predicting a 3-0 win, Chelsea’s American co-owner watched on as Real Madrid dominated and, arguably, deserved more than a two-goal first leg lead.
Chelsea are not out of it, and there is no shame in losing to the 14-time winners led by European master Carlo Ancelotti. Even though they avoided a more emphatic defeat, the nature of the loss was poor. Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling had early chances but, after a bright start, Chelsea faded.
Heads dropped after Ben Chilwell was sent off in the second half and it felt like players lost faith as the match wore on.
Many, such as Wesley Fofana who had a torrid time, perhaps lost confidence in themselves, while others must be questioning the broader decisions that got them to this point.
“I’m proud of the 10 men,” said Lampard, trying to grasp at positives. “I don’t think they carved us open at 10 men. That was due to spirit.”
Chelsea will need to summon the spirit of 2012 if they are to turn things around next week, when they will need to score at least twice in the return leg. Lampard said: “I’ve just said to the players, ‘Special things can happen at Stamford Bridge’. They are a very good team, but we have to believe.”
Given it is four games since Chelsea last found the net, however, it is hard to see them mounting a comeback and progressing to the semi-finals.
Lampard hinted at an underlying lack of belief through some of his own tactical decisions. Chelsea’s 3-5-2 system was used to stop leaving one-versus-one situations against Vinicius Junior, and immediately signalled an intent to contain Madrid rather than impose themselves.
After Chilwell’s red card in the 58th minute, Lampard brought on defender Trevoh Chalobah for their most dangerous attacker Sterling in a 5-3-1 formation. He also sent on Mason Mount for Thiago Silva and switched back to a 4-4-1 after Madrid scored their second, and the midfielder almost gave Chelsea a late goal but his shot was blocked by Antonio Rudiger.
It is only natural that Lampard took such a conservative approach, given he had only a few days to prepare his team.
But he, Bruno Saltor and Potter have now overseen a run of four games without a goal, Chelsea’s worst run of blanks since December 1993.
As much as that trio have not been able to inspire the team, they should not take all the blame. It is not their fault Chelsea spent over £600million but failed to sign a centre-forward; they are not responsible for building a squad in which Sterling is the only player to have ever scored 20 goals in a season. Those problems can only be traced back to the owners.
It was unhelpful of Boehly to predict to Sky Sports ahead of kick-off that Chelsea would win 3-0. His prediction might have been tongue in cheek, but it only helped motivate Madrid.
Boehly and Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali had come from a pre-match lunch with Madrid president Florentino Perez, who masterminded the
Galacticos era at the Bernabeu and which in some ways looks like the transfer policy at Stamford Bridge this season.
Boehly has overseen the biggest spending spree in Premier League history but signing 18 players has left Chelsea with a bloated squad of expensive individuals who do not play like a team. In contrast, Madrid have leaders such as Karim Benzema and Luka Modric alongside exciting recruited talents like Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao and Eduardo Camavinga.
While they are 13 points behind Barcelona in La Liga, they are an example of what a smart squad-building exercise looks like.
It must be hard for Chelsea players to truly believe they can win, with many facing uncertain futures. Unlike their rivals, they are not united.
Travelling fans high up in the Bernabeu tried to help their team, enjoying what might be their last European away trip for a while.
Chelsea supporters typically excel on home European nights and will do the same next Tuesday.
That does not mean they do not see the situation for what it is.
Fans are increasingly being asked to show blind faith when what they need is a miracle next week and, in the longer term, the people running their club to make smarter decisions.
