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Not much can be said about the kind of season Chelsea are enduring at the moment. It’s been disappointing beyond the wildest imaginations of fans.
The Blues are not only set to miss out on a place in Europe next season, but they will also end the campaign without any piece of silverware following their elimination from the UEFA Champions League.
Frank Lampard and his side’s last attempt to fight for a trophy was crushed when they were beaten by Real Madrid on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Having lost 2-0 in the quarter-final first leg against Los Blancos, Chelsea needed to produce the goods at Stamford Bridge in a bid to turn the result around, but they failed, rather succumbing to another 2-0 defeat in front of their home fans.
Real Madrid complete double over Chelsea
In truth, the Blues have themselves to blame for how the second leg against Real Madrid panned out. The west Londoners surprisingly made a bright start to the game and created some decent chances.
Marc Cucurella, Kai Havertz, N’Golo Kante, and Conor Gallagher all had chances to hurt the Spanish side in the first half but fluffed their lines.
When Real Madrid eventually seized control of the game in the second half, it signaled the end of any hope for Chelsea. But even more damning is the fact that the Blues couldn’t respond to the shift in momentum.
The defense was particularly disappointing in how they conceded both goals, having allowed Vinicius Junior the time and space to pick out Rodrygo Goes in the box to score and again watched Federico Valverde stroll into the box before finding Rodrygo to make it 2-0.
Despite their impressive start to the match, Chelsea fizzled out as the game wore on and deserved to lose at home as much as they did at the Santiago Bernabeu.
No solution in sight for the Blues
The worst part of Chelsea’s decline is that there appears to be no solution in sight. Lampard has been clueless on the bench, while the players aren’t pulling up either.
Even those who used to stand out like Reece James, Thiago Silva, and Enzo Fernandez, couldn’t help but down tools in the game against Real Madrid.
The club’s situation was probably best summed up by Silva, who questioned the commitment of his teammates and also took aim at Chelsea’s owners after their latest defeat.
The Brazilian said, as quoted by Goal:
"We can’t be blaming the managers if we don’t take responsibility. It’s a hard period for the club, with a lot of indecision. Change of ownership, new players arriving – we had to increase the size of the changing room because it didn’t fit the size of the squad."
"A positive point is that there are amazing players in the squad but on the other hand there are always players that are going to be unhappy. There is always going to be someone upset because not everyone can play."
“The manager can only pick 11 from a squad of 30-something – that’s tough. Some can’t make the squad, we signed eight in January, we need to stop and put a strategy in place otherwise next season we could make the same mistakes."
Chelsea’s season is already over, even with eight matches left in the Premier League, but there’s no solution in sight for their worrying decline and successive losses.
