Frank Lampard has sent Chelsea supporters a brutally honest message ahead of the Blues' clash with Real Madrid. The west London outfit will welcome Carlo Ancelotti's side to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening in the Champions League quarter-final second-leg.
The reigning champions secured a two-goal advantage at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first-leg, with goals coming from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio. Chelsea will be desperate to bring their three-game winless streak to an end and book a place in the semi-finals, but they're without Ben Chilwell who is suspended.
He was issued his marching orders in the Spanish capital after bringing down Rodrygo just minutes shy of the hour mark. With the Blues swimming against the tide, Lampard will be hoping that his players are swept aside by Real Madrid.
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Speaking in a press conference following Chelsea's defeat to Brighton, the Blues boss refused to encourage fans ahead of the tie. Lampard said: "I'm not here to do that. What matters is what we deliver on the pitch.
"I don't think what I say will make the fans come and be anything else than what they normally are on a Champions League night when Real Madrid is there and it's an opportunity to try and turn something around. I don't want to go 'please come and support us positively', I know they'll do that.
"We have to play with that energy and fight. That's the bare minimum. Of course organisation against Real Madrid, they're a top team. It's up to us, nothing is on the fans for this one, it's up to us as a squad in terms of the game on Tuesday."
Then, when quizzed on how he intends to transform Chelsea's misfortunes, Lampard added: "I don't think it's for me to talk about where it's come from, it's for me to try and get to the bottom of it quickly and change it.
"We haven't got training time, I feel like we need training time but we don't have training time. The response has to be what we see on the pitch, particularly Tuesday coming. Maybe after Tuesday we have a little breather before Brentford.
"Things that are a must in a performance for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, against Brighton who can play, sprints, recovery runs and getting up to people and recovering. Then when you've get the ball to stick to ideas that you want to stick to.
"We came away from that today and the capacity wasn't there today. It's one for me to get into because it's my job to, I'm here for this period. It's my job to get as many, or as much improvement as I can. From that performance today, we certainly have work to do."
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