Frank Lampard knows exactly what it feels like to taste European success at Chelsea Football Club.
The 44-year-old, who is now the interim manager at Stamford Bridge until the end of the season, was part of the infamous 2012 squad that conquered Bayern Munich on their home turf. Now, more than 10 years on from that dramatic night in Germany, Lampard has the opportunity to bring European success back to Chelsea, this time as a caretaker manager with an even more difficult job.
"Probably on the outside, in a romantic sort of way, I can see why people would make the comparison," Lampard explained. "But I think in football terms, because our games will be against Real Madrid and, if we can progress, Bayern Munich or Man City, there are practical things that are really tough. So I certainly don't want to be getting one step further ahead of ourselves than I should.
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"We can only focus now on the game on Wednesday and the challenge there. I don't think the history has a big effect on it but I understand the romantic idea. Wouldn't we all love to see it again? But we have to work towards that. I think it's hard to compare with previous years gone by."
Wednesday night's match at the Bernabeu will be just Lampard's second since returning to the club earlier in the month. His first did not go to plan with Chelsea being beaten 1-0 at the hands of Wolves at the weekend but it gave Lampard a good chance to see what some of his players were about.
There could be a number of changes for the first-leg of the quarter-final with Real Madrid after a really unconvincing performance at Molineux. One man that could return to the side is Thiago Silva, who has been missing after suffering a knee injury in February's defeat to Tottenham.
On Monday afternoon, the 38-year-old returned to first-team training at Cobham meaning he is now in contention to face Los Blancos in the Spanish capital. Silva is now set to travel with the rest of the squad to Madrid but whether or not Lampard will take the risk and start the Brazilian at the Bernabeu remains to be seen.
Mason Mount was also back in training after the England international missed Saturday's defeat to Wolves with a recurring pelvis injury. Mount was a favourite of Lampard's during the interim manager's first spell in charge at Stamford Bridge and if he is fit enough, logic would suggest he would take some part at least.
N'Golo Kante was also in training at Cobham after he was rested on Saturday as he continues his recovery from a long-term hamstring problem. The France midfielder was missing for over seven months with the injury and despite returning to action in recent games against Aston Villa and Liverpool, Lampard decided to give him a break for the game at the weekend.
"N'Golo will be fine as it stands now," Lampard told reporters after the defeat at Wolves. "[We're] managing him to be fit for the game. It's not an issue."
Ben Chilwell started on the bench against Wolves with Marc Cucurella being picked at left-back but Lampard could call upon the former from the start at the Bernabeu. Chilwell's recent form has been really strong and Cucurella hardly impressed at Molineux. If Chelsea are to get anything from this really difficult match, then they will need Chilwell and his fellow full-back Reece James to be right on it in an attacking and defensive sense.
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