“A tall order”- Former English international puts Chelsea on even keel with Real Madrid

Joe Cole claims that the gap between Chelsea and Real Madrid isn’t very big

Speaking on BT Sport (h/t Metro), former Chelsea star Joe Cole has claimed that the gap between the Blues and Real Madrid isn’t as big as people imagine.

Chelsea go into the two-legged Champions League quarter-final tie against the reigning European champions as clear underdogs. If we talk about league form, they are 11th in the table with only 39 points from 30 games.

However, the Blues have done well in Europe this season. They topped the group stage under Graham Potter before convincingly beating Borussia Dortmund in the last-16 tie. It showed that the squad has the quality to compete at the highest level. It is just that things did not fall in place consistently.

Keeping that thought in mind and insisting that the gap between Chelsea and Madrid isn’t big, here’s what Cole said (h/t Metro):

“It’s a tall order for Chelsea, but I don’t think the gap is as big as people think.

“He certainly can [if Lampard can get more out of the players].

“You have to put that into perspective with where the club has been for the last 20 years. There is a big change. We’ve had 30 players change, managers, owners, everything – it’s a big, big change.”

After the change in ownership last season, it would not have been a surprise if this season went a bit awry for the Blues. As it turns out, that has been the case.

However, some of the decision-making from the board has been underwhelming, to say the least. Sacking Thomas Tuchel was probably a massive mistake, which got compounded by signing so many players in the January window to help Graham Potter.

That supposed help turned into a disaster for the manager with a swelled squad and so many good players not getting enough game time. A few weeks ago, Daily Mail reported that up to 11 players could be offloaded in the summer. That number shows the task in hand for a manager dealing with the squad count.

But, having seen this perform well in Europe, Cole is right that the gap between them and Madrid is not as big as people are currently envisaging. Confidence plays a big part in it as well.

More Chelsea News:

• Frank Lampard on why Chelsea have been better in Europe compared to the league this season
• Frank Lampard reveals he would never take credit for Chelsea Champions League win in 2021
• Chelsea emissaries hold talks with emissaries of Barcelona star Gavi

However, we have witnessed Chelsea being average in the league and turning over big teams in the Champions League to win the competition in 2012. Is a repeat of that possible? We certainly cannot rule that out. Interim boss Frank Lampard has a job on his hands.