Chelsea boss Lampard never saying never despite Bayern humiliation

Jonny Whitfield

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has refused to throw in the towel on his side’s chances of Champions League progression after their 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

The Blues have it all to do at the Allianz Arena in the second leg of their last 16 tie, after two goals from Serge Gnabry and a third from Robert Lewandowski put the German champions in full control.

To make matters worse, Chelsea will be without Jorginho and Marcos Alonso in Bavaria, the midfielder tallying another yellow card while Alonso was sent off in the second half following a VAR referral.

Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Lampard was asked if his side’s chances of progression into the quarter-finals are over after Tuesday’s result.

He said: “I don’t know. I don’t want to comment too quickly on that.

“We’ll always play with pride and you should never say the door’s closed because our fans wouldn’t accept that and rightly so and I wouldn’t do.

“I’m more concerned about the bigger picture here, how quickly can we recover for the weekend firstly in the Premier League but also will we see that today and go ‘Ok, let’s understand where we need to get to’. There’s a lot to be done.”

Speaking about his side’s performance in general, Lampard said: “Sometimes you have to be brutally honest about it. They outclassed us in pretty much every department, so it’s quite sobering.

 
“Am I surprised? I think we could have done more, certainly. They showed the level of the team they are, hence why they challenge at the top of the Bundesliga and in the Champions League year in year out.

“Quality players. I’m disappointed we couldn’t have done more against them but it’s a real reality check for everybody – individually in the dressing room and to take that one on the chin.

“You have to look at yourself, no one else, and the levels that we have to attain at this club, which this club has attained in the past and we have to work to get back there.”

Chelsea, who sit fourth in the Premier League table, return to action on Saturday when they travel to the south coast to face Bournemouth.