Lampard insisted there were real signs of improvement from Chelsea.
Frank Lampard is still not angry with Chelsea after losing the home leg 2-0. Real Madrid knocked out the Blues from the Champions League quarterfinals after a 4-0 aggregate success.
Chelsea produced a much-improved performance compared to recent weeks and had their chances to tie the game up early. N’Golo Kante and Marc Cucurella had their chances but both failed to convert.
Lampard was keen to highlight the positives and insisted there were real signs of improvement from Chelsea.
“We played really well for 60 minutes,” he told BT Sport. “And maybe it’s normal, after the goal, 3-0 in the tie, we made some changes to go for it… maybe it’s normal how the game pans out.
“But for 60 minutes, really good. Really good chances. At this level, you want to take them. You have to take them. You don’t want to praise the performance too much when you lose, but of course, where we’ve been this season and where we are…
“In this moment, it wasn’t out night. Some players will take that tonight and understand what it is when they come back at this level.”
Asked whether Chelsea’s struggles in attack had once again come back to bite them, Chelsea manager admitted: “Yeah. That’s clear, isn’t it?
“It’s not for the want of trying. We got numbers in the box, got into loads of crossing positions, so I’ll never criticise the lads for that, but it’s a fact that if you can’t take those chances – the tie goes 2-1 at any point and you’d really feel the crowd turn.
The way we were playing, we were moving the ball really well and gave them a lot of problems down the sides of the pitch, which we wanted to. It’s the first game since I’ve been back where I feel we’ve said things before the game and really implemented them. That’s a must for us for the remainder of the season.”
Chelsea, who are now on their longest run without a win since February 1995. Lampard’s men will now host Brentford on April 26 in their next Premier League.
Chelsea still have to play Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Newcastle, meaning victories over Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth could hardly be more important.
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