Chelsea face a daunting task against Real Madrid in the Champions League tonight.
The Blues must overturn a two-goal deficit in the second leg of their heavyweight quarter-final tie in order to keep a dismal season from petering out completely.
Interim boss Frank Lampard must have a few tricks up his sleeve in order to cause a major shock against the holders at Stamford Bridge, and he is aided by having almost a full squad to choose from.
Here, Standard Sport’s Nizaar Kinsella looks at how Chelsea can turn things around this evening.
Be more direct
Lampard has unpicked Graham Potter’s possession game to simplify the attacking approach. Only Manchester City and Arsenal had more open-play sequences of more than 10 passes than Chelsea under Potter but it was not working for the Blues.
Playing the ball forward quickly and with quality can stop opponents from getting into a set defensive shape, and with speed in attack from Raheem Sterling and, if he features, Mykhailo Mudryk, it could suit Chelsea. Mudryk was one of the few positives in Chelsea’s defeat against Brighton on Saturday as he benefitted from that speedy approach.
Exploit Madrid’s weakness
Madrid will again play with central midfielder Eduardo Camavinga at left-back and Dani Carvajal at right-back. Lampard highlighted those positions as a potential weakness last week but was left frustrated that his team did not exploit it enough.
Sterling got the makeshift left-back booked after just three minutes but Chelsea failed to get at him or Carvajal enough. Maybe in front of their own fans, they can attack this weakness better.
Catch them in possession
Conor Gallagher may have played himself into contention to start despite not being an obvious choice. He got a deflected goal against Brighton on Saturday to end a club 390-minute drought but it was his intensity while pressing that made him most dangerous.
He won the ball in the opposition’s half multiple times to spark attacks. He was the only outfield player that Lampard singled out for praise and could retain his place. If not, Mateo Kovacic or Mason Mount will be expected to emulate his aggressive front-footed defending that is a core part of Lampard’s coaching identity.
