Chelsea face a huge challenge to progress into the Champions League semi-finals as they prepare for their quarter-final, first-leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday night. The Blues qualified for the last-eight after beating Borussia Dortmund over two legs.
Frank Lampard has been handed the opportunity for redemption in the Champions League after being appointed as interim manager until the end of the season at Stamford Bridge. Lampard was sacked and replaced by Thomas Tuchel in 2021 as the Blues went on to win the Champions League under the German.
The Chelsea playing legend will hope he can repeat Tuchel's success and lead the west Londoners to a third Champions League title. Lampard has been boosted by the return of Thiago Silva, Mason Mount and Edouard Mendy to training and the Blues will need to be at their best to stop the threat of Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior - along with the rest of Carlo Ancelotti's talented squad.
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Koulibaly is looking forward to the challenge against the French Ballon d'Or winner and backs his team-mates to perform for Lampard at the Santiago Bernabeu. "I said about two or three years ago, he [Benzema] is the best striker in the world," Koulibaly told BBC Sport.
"It will be a tough game but I hope Chelsea will win and pass this test. It is our objective but it is going to be hard because they won the last Champions League.
"We believe in ourselves, in our team-mates and manager. I am happy for Benzema, he is a good example for the Muslim people that we can do Ramadan, score goals and be productive."
"I hope he continues to score, but not on Wednesday!"
On Lampard’s return to Chelsea, Koulibaly added: "We know he is a legend here and he has already trained half of the team. The situation is like this for the moment, but in training he has been saying he will support us until the end and help us to be out of this situation.
"We know it is a difficult situation for everybody, including the club, manager and supporters, but we will give everything to get out of this and make them happy. Our first objective is to win the games and make our supporters happy."
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