Thiago Silva has admitted that he might not have the chance to play in the Champions League again following Chelsea's defeat to Real Madrid. Despite the Blues' best efforts, Carlo Ancelotti's side secured a place in the semi-final with a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
With the west Londoners dumped out of the tournament, it is unlikely that Chelsea will compete in the Champions League next season unless Frank Lampard can ignite a late – and ambitious – push for the top four. The Blues are currently eleventh in the Premier League and sit 17 points behind Newcastle, who have a game in hand.
As quoted by Beanyman Sports following Chelsea's defeat to the Spanish giants, Silva claimed that he may never play in the prestigious competition ever again. The veteran defender sees his contract in west London expire at the end of next season.
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"It has been a very difficult season and very frustrating for me personally," the Brazil international said. "It might have been my last match in the Champions League. I have one year left of my contract and my career is reaching to the final. It is a very sad days."
In an interview with Sky Sports, Silva insisted that Chelsea's bloated squad has been an issue this season, and that the club must prepare a plan to prevent making the same mistakes next term. He said: "I think we've already taken the first step.
"It was a mistake, but it's happened. Now we've got to take a step back and see what we did wrong. There's no point looking at the coach and saying, 'It's this guy or that guy's fault', if we don't step up to the plate.
"The club are going through a tough patch, it was all a bit vague at the beginning, then there was a change of ownership, many players came in. We even had to extend the dressing room as it wasn't big enough for all the players.
"A positive is that we've got great players in the squad. On the flip side, someone is always going to be annoyed or feel down because not everyone can play. The coach can only pick 11 players yet there are 30-odd here. That's an issue, isn't it.
"Some players are out of favour. Auba came in as a starter but he's not in the Champions League squad as there was a limit of three, and we made eight signings in January. We've got to take stock and put together a plan for next season so that we don't make the same mistakes."
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