Champions League
Lampard recalled the 2012 performance to inspire Chelsea players ahead of Real
Chelsea traveled to Madrid as underdogs against Real with the Champions League semi-final in the background, but Frank Lampard will try to inspire his players by recalling the feat against Barcelona in 2012.
The situation at Chelsea this season is far from pleasant as the new owners spent almost €330m on transfers in January but have lost their team 11 times in the league so far and are eyeing Europe for the new season.
With that data, they made the decision to ‘sweep’ Graham Potter (for whose acquisition they compensated Brighton €24million mid-season) and take Frank Lampard on as an official until the end of the season, the top scorer in Blues history, even asked to to lead them in a ‘brutal’ Champions League quarter-final series against Real.
However, he doesn’t seem ready to throw in the towel before entering the Bernabeu for the first game against the European champions. (4.12., 22:00, COSMOTE SPORT 2 HD, MEGA, LIVE from Sportish) and he found a good example to give strength to his players.
An example from the Londoners’ recent glorious past: Roman Abramovich replaced Andre Villas-Boas with Roberto Di Matteo and the Blues enjoyed two incredible upsets with the Italy caretaker manager against Napoli and Barcelona before becoming European champions by defeating Bayern in the final defeated Munich.
“Never say never. I remember he parked the team bus for the second semi-final against Barcelona at the Camp Nou and we said to each other that we were going to fight for our lives. We were tough and we were successful.”
Our secret was that we had great desire, just as much character and talent at a high level at a club that had struggled for years to win a Champions League and made it through to the final.
The same recipe now exists. A team and an ensemble always go through difficult times to achieve greatness.” stressed “Lambs”, who also spoke the best words about Raheem Sterling.
“He’s been one of the best wingers in the world for a long time and according to some even the best. I don’t know how many times I’ve said to young wingers, ‘Look at Sterling and see why he’s scoring 20 goals a season. ‘I think I’m a great player and I’m betting on him a lot.’
Source: Sport 24
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.