Chelsea news: Frank Lampard explains dressing room message after Real Madrid defeat | Football | Sport

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard attempted to rouse his players after their 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid by reminding them the tie is far from over when they host the Spanish giants at Stamford Bridge next week. Real were always going to be strong favourites at the Bernabeu against a Chelsea side lacking in confidence in front of goal.

But while Carlo Ancelotti’s side knocked on the door, Chelsea appeared able to weather most of the storm. Karim Benzema’s opener midway through the first half didn’t appear to dent Chelsea’s spirits as they continued to press forward with Thibaut Courtois pulling off a wonder save to deny Raheem Sterling an equaliser.

The game was finely poised heading into the second half with the Bernabeu unusually quiet as Real failed to fire up their home supporters. But Chelsea’s backs were on the wall when Ben Chilwell was shown a straight red for pulling down Rodrygo with the Brazilian bearing down on goal.

Real eventually grabbed their second with a sensational strike from Marco Asensio outside the box after a lapse in concentration from Chelsea at a corner. The Blues did have one final chance to halve the deficit when Mason Mount found himself with a yard of space inside the box, only to be denied by a sensational block from Antonio Rudiger.

It’s now over to Stamford Bridge next week for Chelsea to try and pull off a remarkable comeback. And Lampard drew on his past experiences as a Chelsea player in trying to remind his squad that the tie is still there to be win.

“The disappointing thing is you give away a set-piece and switch off for the second goal with ten men,” he said. “I don’t think with 10 men they carved us open. That was due to the spirit.