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Frank Lampard is excited for the “amazing challenge” he faces when Chelsea tackle Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Chelsea legend Lampard guides his team into Wednesday’s first leg at Santiago Bernabeu less than a week after returning to Stamford Bridge as interim boss until the end of the season.
The former midfielder may well feel he has unfinished business with the Blues in European competition, having been sacked midway through the 2020-21 season – a campaign that saw the club go on to win the Champions League under successor Thomas Tuchel.
While taking on Madrid appears a daunting task for a coach who was out of the game just a week ago, Lampard is ready to lap up the opportunity.
“This is amazing. I’ve been fortunate to manage in the Champions League, and to be here as a manager, when a week ago I didn’t know I’d be here, is a huge honour,” he said at a press conference.
“It’s an amazing challenge for me personally and for the club.
“I think we have to understand the strength of the Real Madrid team; we have to be disciplined with our game off the ball, understand the threats, the ways they like to score and how they control the game.
“We also have to show our own strengths in our game. We have to have belief and follow through with what the idea is under pressure.”
Chelsea have struggled for consistency domestically this season, languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table, and Lampard was asked how and why his squad look to have performed better on the European stage.
“I understand the question because I’ve viewed it from the outside. The Premier League is also one of the greatest challenges in world football,” he replied.
“I think in the Champions League it sometimes offer you some escapism, a different speed of game, they can all contribute to it.
“At this stage, you’re playing team of the level of Real Madrid. The comparisons are pretty worthless.”
Lampard will have Thiago Silva, Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante available for the trip to the Spanish capital, and he feels they, along with the rest of the squad, can respond to their critics.
“They’re all fit. The three players are good and they’re here,” he said.
“It’s normal in a season like this that character gets questioned. The only thing the players can do is prove it on the pitch.
“There’s a lot we do behind the scenes, and my job is to convey to them the need to train at a level and to have a mentality at a level, and then they have to show it.
“I’m not questioning there is a lot of character, because I’ve seen the dressing room. Sometimes players can have a lack of confidence.”
