Todd Boehly’s bold prediction of a 3-0 Chelsea win ahead of kick-off proved badly inaccurate after the Blues were dominated in a 2-0 defeat away at Real Madrid.
In truth, Carlo Ancelotti’s side should have scored at least three themselves and were in almost complete control against caretaker manager Frank Lampard in this Champions League quarter-final first-leg tie.
Chelsea co-owner Boehly’s comments will have done little to help his team of expensive strangers after he told the world to “have faith” and believe in his long-term project after being door-stepped in Madrid by Sky Sports before the match.
After a good opening exchange from Chelsea where Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix both came close to scoring, there was little left for supporters to put their faith into.
Vinicius Jr destroyed both Wesley Fofana and Reece James all night and saw his effort saved by a busy Kepa Arrizabalaga in the 21st minute, only for Karim Benzema to tap in the opener.
Fofana did his level best, having never played at this level before, and while carrying a yellow card after the fifth minute. That mentality spread to the rest of his team who were boosted by the return of both N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva to the starting lineup.
Even they faded, asked to do too much after too long out, and Madrid squandered chance after chance. Chelsea were content on leaving Spain with a 2-0 defeat, offering nothing in attack. After coming on following an injury to Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella’s positional mistake put Ben Chilwell in danger and he was sent off as the last man for pulling back Rodrygo.
Lampard then decided to play half of his outfield players in defence, opting for a 5-3-1 to survive the last 35 minutes but Marco Asensio soon added the second goal the 14-time winners deserved. Again, it was dreadful defending from a set-piece from a team that has had three managers in their last four matches.
After spending a world-record £600million on 18 new players, this was supposed to be a Chelsea group of ‘Galacticos’. Instead, they were dominated by a team who have moved away from that recruitment strategy to a more careful squad-building one.
Madrid humbled Chelsea and they may need a miracle to get through next week, with one last match to try to save the season from calamity.
