Lampard finds crumbs of comfort despite Chelsea's European exit

Chelsea interim manager Frank Lampard found crumbs of comfort from his side's performance despite a crushing Champions League quarterfinal exit against Real Madrid on Tuesday.

Faced with overturning a 2-0 defeat in the Bernabeu last week, Chelsea suffered a similar fate as Rodrygo's second-half double eased the 14-time European champions into the semis with a 4-0 aggregate scoreline.

It is now four defeats from four games for Lampard since returning in the wake of Graham Potter's sacking and his side are marooned in 11th place in the Premier League.

Yet for nearly-an-hour on Tuesday they matched the reigning champions and had they possessed a functioning attack might have given themselves a chance at redemption.

Chelsea have managed one goal in their last six games despite spending about £600m R12bn) on new players in the two transfer windows since American Todd Boehly's consortium bought the club previously bankrolled by Roman Abramovich.

“I think for 60 minutes the only thing missing was a goal,” Lampard said.

“One goal or two goals changes the face of the game and at this level when you're not clinical you see what happens. The end bit of scoring is crucial and something we need to address.”

Club record scorer Lampard, who now has the dubious honour of being the first Chelsea manager to lose his first four games in charge, must now try to restore some hope among the fans in the seven league games his side have left.

There will almost certainly be no European football for Chelsea next season and Lampard says the club has no divine right to think that it will be only a one-season absence.

But he says the rebuilding job must start in the time he remains at the helm.

“We have to take each step. Day off tomorrow, back into work Thursday and working towards Brentford,” he said.

“This club is going to be back. I think the fans appreciated the performance today and we have to latch onto that and go again next year.

“Manchester United have spent time out [of the Champions League], Arsenal have spent time out. It's impossible to try to predict it. We can set the building blocks now of where we want to get to.”

Also on Tuesday night AC Milan reached the semis for the first time since they won the trophy 16 years ago thanks to a first-half goal from Olivier Giroud at Napoli that secured a 1-1 draw and 2-1 aggregate win despite a barrage of pressure.

Napoli battled until the end but could not break down the resilient Milan defence until striker Victor Osimhen equalised three minutes into stoppage time with a bullet header but it was too late as the referee ended the match seconds later.

Seven-time European champions Milan will now face either Inter Milan or Benfica, who meet on Wednesday at the San Siro with the Italian side leading 2-0 from the first leg. Milan coach Stefano Pioli said he would welcome a semifinal against their city rivals.

“It would look like that, as Inter won the first leg so well. These will be another two difficult, exciting and wonderful clashes in the Champions League. We’ve done a great deal and don’t want to stop now,” he told Mediaset.