Chelsea owner Todd Boehly was left regretting his pre-match prediction after the Blues slumped to a less than inspiring defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League.
The Blues travelled to Spain on Wednesday evening keen to earn a positive result ahead of the second leg at Stamford Bridge next week. A number of familiar failings saw them come unstuck at the Santiago Bernabeu though.
Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the first-half as he latched onto Vinicius Jr's clever cross. The advantage was doubled by Marco Asensio from range after left-back Ben Chilwell had seen red for a last man challenge.
Defeat left interim boss Frank Lampard and his Chelsea side staring at an exit from Europe - the latest dismal chapter in what has been a woeful season in West London. All of that has come after American businessman Boehly financed a huge outlay after completing a takeover of the club last year.
He has already made himself look a little bit of a fool with a few misguided buys, and baffling managerial decisions and the embarrassment did not stop there as he was ambushed by cameras ahead of the showdown in Madrid. Asked what he was expecting of the game, he said: "Chelsea's going to win. 3-0."
Boehly was then asked further for his thoughts on the season as a whole and a message for the frustrated Chelsea faithful. "I say have a lot of faith and we're going to win 3-0 tonight," he added.
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"We look at this as a very long-term process and we had a lot of work to do. We're excited about the future. The future is bright and we're excited about tonight."
Following their defeat, Chelsea now need a miracle back at Stamford Bridge to preserve their place in Europe both this season and potentially next term too. The West London side currently sit 11th in the Premier League and are already 17 points off the pace for the top four ahead of the final eight games of the campaign.
Their only realistic chance of returning to the Champions League hinge on their hopes of winning the competition for the third time this season - something that now seems highly unlikely.
The eventual winners of Chelsea's showdown with Real Madrid will take on either Manchester City or Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the competition. Pep Guardiola's side already have one foot in the last four following Tuesday's 3-0 thumping of the German giants.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are back in Premier League action this weekend and will at least hope to get themselves back into the top-half of the table. They take on Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon.
