Chelsea fans could not hide their disappointment as their team was defeated by Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final – however, some were more forgiving than others.
Blues supporters were in agreement that the performance against Los Blancos was below-par and simply not good enough.
Despite this, they could not reach a consensus on who deserved to shoulder the blame in a game that Chelsea were well and truly in until Ben Chilwell saw red early in the second half.
Some blamed individual players for their poor efforts on the night, others chose to blame interim boss and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard.
Additionally, a contingent of the Chelsea massive believe the fault lies squarely at the feet of Todd Boehly and his transfer policies.
almost had ‘em!
— 💖CAMERON💖 (@CAM3R0NPH1L1P) April 12, 2023
Delete season!
— Iván Peralta (@ivanper_21) April 12, 2023
Even if an organization has a large sum of money, if the management fails to make appropriate decisions, it will inevitably collapse. This is precisely what Boehly has done to us.
— SHAYEE (@tier_first) April 12, 2023
Even if an organization has a large sum of money, if the management fails to make appropriate decisions, it will inevitably collapse. This is precisely what Boehly has done to us.
— SHAYEE (@tier_first) April 12, 2023
Felix can go. Im tired of defending this guy
— Mwana Wa Shumba🦁 (@TanakaShumba04) April 12, 2023
Lampard will be on sidelines and be looking angry, bro that’s what you taught those boys. Because we have seen this before the first time you coached them. The gap between midfield and attack is always large. Lampard is the worst manager in this world
— SHAYEE (@tier_first) April 12, 2023
In the game against Madrid, Chelsea were not completely hopeless – they created several decent chances, including an effort from Raheem Sterling that required a huge save from Thibaut Courtois. Despite this, Madrid were comfortably the superior team on the night.
Karim Benzema opened the scoring the first half, scoring a tap-in after Kepa Arrizabalaga’s initial save. In the second half, Madrid doubled their lead with a strike from Marco Asensio.
To make matters worse, Ben Chilwell, who has recently signed a new contract with the club, was sent off after bringing down Rodrygo while the latter was through on goal. If Chelsea are to salvage anything from this tie, they have a lot of work to do at Stamford Bridge in the second leg.