Chelsea was comprehensively beaten at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal tie. The game went the way many expected it to go, but there were people who were surprised by just how poor the Blues were. Frank Lampard’s plan was definitely to contain Carlo Ancelotti’s men for as long as possible while trying to create chances when opportunities arose. Here are three positives and three negatives from the much anticipated UCL tie.
Chelsea positives
The starting lineup
The starting eleven Lampard put out was very strong. This is because the Blues had many key players back from injury including N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva. These players weren’t that influential in the game, though Silva made something that can be classified as a goal-line clearance. It was the strongest lineup the interim Blues’ boss had available to him. The 2021 European Champions had the best chance of winning the game they could possibly hope for with Reece James, N’Golo Kante, Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana, and Enzo Fernandez in them. There were other superb players in the lineup as well. No one can accuse anyone of not giving Real Madrid the respect they deserve.