Frank Lampard sees Chelsea job made even harder by Todd Boehly's latest blunder

12 April 2023 , 21:11

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Frank Lampard sees Chelsea job made even harder by Todd Boehly's latest blunder

Todd Boehly's pre-match prediction lasted all of 21 minutes.

That is how long it took for Real Madrid to dismantle Chelsea ’s defence and for Karim Benzema to feast on yet another English defence.

Chelsea owner Boehly, who had boldly claimed his team would win 3-0, was left eating his words and regretting yet another foot in mouth moment. It is not as if Real Madrid need any more motivation and you can bet caretaker boss Frank Lampard would have secretly winced at his new boss promising to wipe the floor with the reigning European champions.

Lampard has inherited something straight out of a Ted Lasso script at Stamford Bridge and not even the plot lines in that TV drama would be far fetched enough for Chelsea to put three past Real Madrid.

In fairness to Chelsea, Lampard inspired his players as they put on a brave performance which only really turned sour when Ben Chilwell was sent off in the 59th minute for a blatant pull back on Real Madrid forward Rodrygo.

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From then on, it was a case of damage limitation and the fact they kept it down to just 2-0 actually sees them earn some credit in a bizarre soap opera of a season.

Maybe it was fit-again N’Golo Kante patrolling midfield again which raised their level. But the painful truth is miracles are beyond them this season and next Tuesday’s second leg will surely be the end of the road in the Champions League. It could be their last game in this competition for a while.

Frank Lampard must have winced when hearing Todd Boehly's bold pre-match prediction

They could not live with a familiar foe in Benzema. Real Madrid’s opening goal was typical Benzema as their prolific No9 was in the right place at the right time again. Dani Carvajal floated a lovely ball over the Chelsea defence, Vinicius Junior hooked it towards goal and Kepa Arrizabalaga made a smart save only for Benzema to force home from point blank range.

Incredibly, it was Benzema’s 90th Champions League goal, his last 11 have come against English opponents and he has scored 14 in his last nine knock-out games. That is the hallmark of a striker for the big occasion and the Frenchman is the reason why Real Madrid cannot be dismissed as genuine contenders to win the European Cup yet again.

It is easy to forget that these teams are the last two winners of the Champions League and Raheem Sterling did go close to hauling Chelsea back into the contest but was denied by another Courtois save. Chelsea did at least show some pride in their performance.

Real Madrid toyed with Chelsea, leaving them a mountain to scale in next week's second leg (AFP via Getty Images)

But at the other end, Vinicius Junior saw an effort hacked off the line by Thiago Silva who immediately bawled out Reece James for not tracking back. It felt like Real Madrid were toying with Chelsea at times. Luka Modric curled an effort just over and they just needed to put the foot on the gas to get another.

Chelsea then pressed the self destruct button when Chilwell pulled back Real Madrid forward Rodrygo as he raced through. French referee François Letexier immediately sent off Chilwell who was the last defender and suddenly Chelsea’s night turned into mission impossible.

Sure enough, Real Madrid got their second after 74 minutes. Vinicius Jr’s lay-off found Marco Asensio on the edge of the box and the Real Madrid substitute swept home into the bottom corner.

Chelsea substitute Mason Mount did see an injury time effort blocked to deny the visitors an unlikely consolation but they will know the defeat could have been a lot worse.

John Cross