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Lampard concerned by ‘sobering’ night for Chelsea
LONDON, Feb 26, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Chelsea manager Frank Lampard admitted a
3-0 thrashing at home to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions
League last 16 tie was a reality check for how far behind the European elite
the Blues now find themselves.
Lampard captained the Chelsea side that beat Bayern on home soil in the
2012 final, but the gulf between the teams that has emerged in recent years
was in full evidence at Stamford Bridge.
Serge Gnabry’s quickfire double early in the second half was just reward
for Bayern’s dominance of the first 45 minutes when only some poor finishing
and Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero kept the hosts in the game.
Robert Lewandowski then added the final blow 14 minutes from time with his
11th Champions League goal of the season.
“Sometimes you have to brutally honest about it,” said Lampard. “They
outclassed us in pretty much every department. It’s quite sobering.
“Am I surprised? I think we could have done more. They showed the level of
team they are, hence why they challenge at the top of the Bundesliga and the
Champions League year in, year out.”
Chelsea remain in pole position to qualify for the Champions League again
next season as they sit fourth in the Premier League.
However, a run of five wins in their last 15 league games was a warning
that Chelsea would struggle to compete with the best in the knockout stages
of the Champions League.
“It’s a real reality check,” added Lampard. “For everybody in the dressing
room, take that one on the chin, look yourself in the mirror and just look at
the levels that we want to attain at this club.
“This club has attained (those levels) in the past and we want to work to
get back there.”
Lampard refused to call the second leg in three weeks time a dead rubber.
But after being frustrated at not being able to add a striker to his squad in
January, he appeared to put pressure on the club’s hierarchy to back him in
the transfer market this summer.
“We’ll always play with pride. You should never say the door is closed
because our fans wouldn’t accept that and rightly so,” he added on the second
leg.
“I’m more concerned about the bigger picture here. How quickly can we
recover for the Premier League at the weekend? But also will we look at that
and understand what we need to do to get to where we want to. For everybody
here there is a lot to be done.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/0831 hrs