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Football London
Football London
Sport
Kieran Horn

Frank Lampard told 'perfect' Chelsea formation for Real Madrid Champions League clash

Frank Lampard's uncle Harry Redknapp has told the interim Chelsea boss why he should play a back three formation against Real Madrid in the Champions League. Lampard's first game back in charge of the Blues ended in defeat against Wolves to leave the club in eleventh, 17 points off the Premier League top four.

Earning Champions League football for next season now appears almost impossible for Chelsea with their hopes of returning for a sixth consecutive campaign resting on winning this year's competition. In order to do that, Chelsea must bypass the reigning European champions Real Madrid who comfortably dispatched of Liverpool in the previous round, while Chelsea knocked out Borussia Dortmund.

Lampard therefore must work to solve a number of glaring issues at Chelsea, with one of those being in attack. The goal scoring woes of the Blues is unlikely to be solved in the three days between the Wolves game and the fixture at Santiago Bernabeu, however there is one thing Lampard can provide a quick fix for.

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One of the possible reasons for Chelsea's lack of attacking success was Lampard's decision to play full-backs, instead of choosing to deploy a back three at Molineux. Ben Chilwell was named on the bench over the weekend with Marc Cucurella given the nod at left-back, however Harry Redknapp has told Lampard to recall the Englishman and line up with a back three in the Spanish capital.

As cited by The Daily Mail, Redknapp said: “I think they’re perfectly set to set-up three up the back [great] wing backs Chillwell and James, you’ve got centre halves galore,’ he said. ‘I think they’re well set-up to play that way, because they’ve got to make sure they stay in the game first and foremost and give themselves a chance when they go back to Stamford Bridge.

“Stay in the game. If you get beat by the odd goal, you’re in the game. Don’t go over there and get hammered. Make it tight, keep it tight, be difficult to beat. What a great game to have. Everyone expects them to lose, Chelsea have got a big chance.”

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