Gary Cahill believes Frank Lampard has the experience to help Chelsea beat Real Madrid
Former Chelsea defender Gary Cahill believes Frank Lampard has the experience of big Champions League nights to impart to the players that might help them in beating Real Madrid.
Chelsea go into the second leg of that competition’s quarter-final tie against Madrid at Stamford Bridge trailing by two goals. While the task to overturn a two-goal deficit against the European champions is tough enough, the Blues are in horrendous form to have any confidence ahead of the return game.
After getting schooled by Carlo Ancelotti’s men in the first leg, Lampard’s men got a similar treatment by Brighton and Hove Albion at Bridge on Saturday. That game really showed that this team is not even good enough to turn it on in home games.
But, Cahill believes Frank has the experience of these types of situations to impart to the players that can be helpful. Here’s what he said (h/t Football.London):
“As a player he was a leader but led by example in terms of the work he did on the training pitch, the work he put in after. He was vocal when he had to be but he very much lead by example and moving into the game against Real Madrid the one thing he can bring is a massive amount of experience in the competition.
“[Lampard has] exactly what they need tomorrow so in terms of that he’s got bundles and bundles of experience he can pass on to these players for these occasions and these nights and what they mean at Stamford Bridge.”
While we all know how good and influential Lampard was for Chelsea during his playing days, the same thing has not been the case as the manager.
Since taking over the job on an interim basis, the Blues have lost all three games and scored just one deflected goal in that period. It is as if nothing changed after the sacking of Graham Potter two weeks ago. So, this sentimental move by the board to bring back the club legend at this difficult has not worked so far.
But, in football, you never say never. Although Madrid are outright favourites to beat Chelsea and go through to the semi-final, can the Blues beat the odds and sneak through?
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As tough as it sounds, if Lampard’s men score the first goal of the night and halve the deficit with the home crowd right behind the players, anything can happen. The only problem is that Madrid players have seen hostile atmospheres before and played their natural game and smashed teams (Barcelona at Camp Nou and Liverpool at Anfield being recent examples).