Chelsea face a season-defining clash on Wednesday evening as they head to Spain for a Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. The Blues head into the tie off the back of a three-game winless Premier League run under three different manager without finding the back of the net across the 270 minutes played.
Blues legend Frank Lampard returned to the club as interim manager until the end of the season just under a week ago, and he faces a monumental task. Chelsea have looked off-colour in front of goal for the majority of this campaign and now the 44-year-old must take his team into one of the most daunting Stadiums in Europe to play one of the greatest teams in the world.
Speaking about Madrid ahead of their Santiago Bernabeu battle, Lampard said: "We have to understand the strengths of the Real Madrid team, their qualities in possession and their individual talent. We have to be very disciplined in our game off the ball, and understand the threats.
READ MORE: Enzo Fernandez reveals 'great' advice Frank Lampard has given Chelsea for Real Madrid clash
"Ways Real Madrid like to score and regularly score and how they want to control the game. So we have to be defensively good against that. But we also have to show our own strengths in our game.
"We have to have belief, we have to follow the idea because in a high-level game the biggest thing can sometimes be the mentality – following through with what the idea is, under pressure. At this level, you have to be spot-on with our game to take it back to Stamford Bridge in front of our supporters."
On a positive note, Lampard has been handed a significant boost in comparison to his predecessor with a very small amount of stars still in the treatment room. The previously injured trio of Mason Mount, Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta were all pictured in training on Monday before the squad travelled out to Madrid.
N'Golo Kante was named on the bench in the weekend defeat to Wolves as he makes steady progress on returning to 100% after a seven-month absence with a hamstring injury. Some confirmed absentees are already known with January signings Noni Madueke, Benoit Badiashile and David Datro Fofana left out of the squad submitted in early February, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who delivered a bright 22-minute cameo at Molineux, was also omitted from the initial squad to make way for a winter window arrival.
With that said, football.london has compiled the full Chelsea squad travelling to Madrid for a major European fixture.
Goalkeepers: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Edouard Mendy, Marcus Bettinelli
Defenders: Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Kalidou Koulibaly, Cesar Azpilicueta, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana.
Midfielders: Enzo Fernandez, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Denis Zakaria, Conor Gallagher.
Forwards: Christian Pulisic, Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz.
READ NEXT:
Thiago Silva shock, N'Golo Kante return – Chelsea changes Frank Lampard may make vs Real Madrid
Latest Chelsea injury news as two miss Real Madrid amid Frank Lampard's Thiago Silva hope
Chelsea in stunning Christian Pulisic transfer swap claims for Arsenal target
Six Chelsea players face suspension if booked in Champions League fixture vs Real Madrid
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All the latest news, views and rumours from Stamford Bridge
