Chelsea was beaten 2-0 away at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final clash against Real Madrid.
The Blues went into the game with an inconsistent form losing two and getting two draws from their last four matches before the game and Frank Lampard’s first UEFA Champions League match since taking up the job on a caretaker basis.
Despite the poor form, the Blues managed to win twice on the road in the UEFA Champions League, which were wins in Milan at the San Siro against AC Milan and another victory in Austria against RB Salzburg.
However, the team also lost in Zagreb to Dinamo Zagreb in the group stage and lost 1-0 to Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16.
They were able to make a comeback in the second leg of that round of sixteen fixture in London, but this time around, a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid will be their task when they play in the second leg of this fixture at Stamford Bridge.
Real Madrid dominated the first half, but they were not far ahead. Chelsea failed to do their defensive assignments and went behind when Karim Benzema scored the opening goal in the 21st minute of the game.
No goals followed in the first half, but Chelsea managed to keep the scoreline decent, the Blues had chances of their own, but Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz were both not clinical as Chelsea continued to chase an equalizer.
However, rather than an equalizer, the Blues were only reduced to 10 men when Ben Chilwell was sent off for a last-man challenge just before the hour-mark in the second half.
The numerical advantage counted for Real Madrid eventually, as second-half substitute Marco Asensio doubled the lead in the 74th minute.
Frank Lampard will have it all to do next week Tuesday when Real Madrid travel to London for the second leg. Meanwhile, Chelsea will have to face Brighton in the Premier League at the weekend first.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu