admin
LONDON. — Saying that Chelsea are currently “broken” is “a bit much”, says their interim manager Frank Lampard.
The Blues sacked manager Graham Potter earlier this month with the team 11th in the Premier League, despite spending more than £550m on players this season.
The Champions League is the last competition they can win this season but they trail Real Madrid 2-0 before tonight’s quarter-final second leg.
“We are not where we want to be. That’s clear,” said Lampard.
“But I think the word broken is a bit much.
“The league position is a reality, and we are 2-0 down in this game. We have to work against that.”
Real have won the Champions League a record 14 times, beating Liverpool in last season’s final, and are second in Spain’s La Liga.
So Lampard was asked if overturning Real’s advantage from the first leg and reaching the semi-finals would rival 2012 when, as a player, he helped Chelsea win the Champions League for the first time.
“I don’t think anything that happens tomorrow will be better than winning the Champions League,” said the 44-year-old, who is Chelsea’s record goalscorer.
“We had many difficult moments on that run — against Barcelona and Napoli. It was a huge run where there were a lot of big achievements. “But considering the score now, the team we are up against and the moment we are in, we have to fight really hard to make it happen so, of course, it would be special.”
The Telegraph has reported that Chelsea’s co-owner and chairman Todd Boehly went into the changing room after Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat by Brighton and delivered a speech to the players, during which he called the club’s situation “embarrassing”.
Speaking on Monday, Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga said: “Todd comes into the changing room after every game. He has had different chats with us over different games.
“I’m not going to say what he said but it is normal for him to come into the changing room.” Lampard was then asked about the American investor, who completed his takeover of Chelsea last summer, coming into the changing room. — BBC Sport
Online Reporter