Frank Lampard explains strange Chelsea formation against Real Madrid
Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard claimed his team selection against Real Madrid was geared around selecting the club's most 'in-form' players.
The Blues crashed out of the Champions League as Brazilian winger Rodrygo netted a second half brace to earn Real a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge, condemning Lampard to a fourth successive loss and a 4-0 aggregate defeat.
Chelsea's performance was much improved compared to recent losses, but eyebrows were raised pre-game when Lampard's team selection was revealed.
Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva and Wesley Fofana lined up in a back three, with Reece James and Marc Cucurella - who have both played in central defence this season - operating as traditional or inverted wing-backs.
N'Golo Kante, Enzo Fernandez, Mateo Kovacic and Conor Gallagher all started too, leaving attacking talent Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech watching on from the sidelines.
"I picked a team today that I thought was the most in-form team and the fittest team and they showed they can compete with Real Madrid, other than the final third stuff. It is important to take each step," Lampard explained post-match about his selection thought process.
"People will make a lot of this season for Chelsea because we have had so much success. The reality is this club is going to be back, it will take work and process. But I think the fans appreciated the performance today, and maybe this season they have had moments where they’re not feeling like that.
"We have to latch onto that, get results at the end of the season and performances and go again next year."
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Will Chelsea qualify for Europe next season?
Defeat for Chelsea means qualification for any kind of European football looks nigh on impossible, something that would have seemed unfathomable at the start of the season given expectations.
But sitting 11th in the table, closer on points to the relegation zone than to the top four, Chelsea looked destined to follow in the footsteps of Arsenal, who went a season without continental football before their Mikel Arteta-led resurgence.
"We have been fortunate enough to have huge success for 20 years," Lampard said of the club's plight. "Many clubs in the Premier League would only dream of our success as Champions League and Premier League winners.
"Maybe this is a year where we are not what we wanted to be, there are reasons for the transition. A few years ago Chelsea we didn’t make the Champions League and then won the Premier League the following year [in 2016-17]. We can’t be too short term with it. There are places we want to improve as a club."
On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss a potential midfield merry-go-round this summer, Victor Osimhen's chances of joining Chelsea, Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher's futures, Harry Kane, Ilkay Gundogan, Ousmane Dembele & more!
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