Do you need the performance of your lives tomorrow to get through?
Tomorrow is a big game, a Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. We are playing at home. It is not going to be easy but I don’t think we need the performance of our lives. We need a good performance. We need to deliver our best. We cannot overthink. We have to take it step by step. We have to defend well, attack well. It is a big part of the season, looking where we are.
A challenging campaign but you've had good form, how big of a mental challenge?
I think it is a positive season for me personally. I think the last two seasons I played 15 games per season. This season I am playing more. I am feeling good, I am feeling confident. I am enjoying it on the pitch. That is basic, the most important thing. The season in general is not the best one but personally I think I am happy with my season.
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Have you all been practising penalties?
We didn’t think too much about penalties for this game. We are focusing on many other areas that we have to think about first. If we get to penalties we know everything. We have good takers in this area. They are training during the week, not just today or yesterday. Hopefully we can get to penalties. This means we win 2-0 – it is not bad.
Fourth game under Frank Lampard, what has he changed and what do you need to do to win?
We need a better performance than in the Bernabeu. We need to better control the counterattacks. We need to spend more time with the ball and create more chances. We need to score goals, we need to be more clinical in both areas. I think that will be key.
Todd Boehly came into the dressing room after Brighton, report said he said the performance was 'embarrassing', how do you take that? What can Frank Lampard bring?
Hopefully tomorrow we can involve all the fans, all of Stamford Bridge, deliver our best and make a different atmosphere that we need to go through. It is not going to be easy. We have to go step by step and do the right thing in the beginning and push as much as we can. The other thing, Todd comes to the changing room in every game. He had different chats with us after different games. I am not going to say what he said but this is normal when he came to the changing room.
Can you imagine a situation where Chelsea get through?
Let's hope. The situation last year in the Bernabeu, we were winning 3-0. It's obviously not easy, it was a dream. We didn't go through in the end but it shows we can do it. After the first leg last year it also seemed like a lost cause and it was not easy. We have to do things properly, step by step. Not thinking about trying to win 4-0, doing things right. They have different skills in every part of the pitch that can change the match.
It seems you still have to convince fans you can be No.1, why is it like that and what can you do?
This is obviously a question for the fans. The fans can have different opinions about different players. What I can do is deliver my best, work every day, try to perform the best way and try to help the team. This is my job and what I am doing in the last five years. What I am doing is trying to do my best, to win games, to win trophies.
How much does Chelsea mean to you?
This is my home for five years now. I am happy to be here. I feel at home. I am enjoying the journey we’ve had in the last five years.
The comments from Lampard after the first leg that you did not know how good Real Madrid were?
The squad that Real Madrid has, there's not much you can add. There's a lot of history and the history, they're the kings of it. I don't know what they can improve, what we can do to be surprised by Real Madrid. We know about the them, their history, what we can do is looking at the first leg, closing down space, we weren't decisive enough in attack or defence, in both boxes we weren't decisive. That's what will make the difference.
Lampard dropped you. What was your feeling when he returned? Do you still have your Champions League medal?
I have my medal in a good place at home. I am very happy to have that. [On Frank] Three years ago. It is a different situation. Everything is different. Now I am playing. Frank came here again and is our manager. He is taking decisions every game. When he picked me I am trying to give my best.
How is belief in the squad, are you lacking confidence?
I don’t know about lacking confidence. Maybe we are not in our best shape. We are 11th in the league, ot is not a good season for us. What we have to do is believe until the end. In this stadium, Remontadas can happen. It happened before. We have to believe that will happen tomorrow. We have to deliver our best and try to do the right things, we need a big performance – not of our lives maybe, but a big performance.
You spoke about closing down space, can you speak about Vinicius?
He is a player that is in great form. He is an amazing player, with space he is unstoppable. We left too much space behind for him. We were on the back foot, chasing him metres behind. We must push to keep them in their own half, it is something we can work on tomorrow. At this moment he is amazing, yeah.
Special plan for him?
Obviously we have a plan, as a team. It is a team sport, it is not one player we are up against. We have to work as a team to stop Vinicius and all of the other players.
A lot of change in squad, how has the group being at building chemistry?
It is true we have a lot of players. Maybe more than normal in the team. But I think it is not a question for me. What I can say is the atmosphere in the changing room, we are not happy, but the atmosphere is good. There is no fighting, nothing like this. We are trying to find a way to win the games. We had a lot of changes. We know that. We want to change the situation.
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