Frank Lampard said he believes "the door is open" for Chelsea to overturn a 2-0 deficit to Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final tie.
A red card for Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell just before the hour mark effectively ended any hope the team had of springing a surprise at the Bernabeu, after Karim Benzema had scored to give Real Madrid a first-half lead.
Marco Asensio fired in a second after 74 minutes to leave Lampard’s team facing a mammoth task to rescue the tie at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday, as their last hope of rescuing a wretched season hangs by a thread. “It’s a big challenge of course, a team of the quality of Real Madrid,” said Lampard. “The door is open, it’s up to us if we want to kick it open further." The result meant Chelsea have failed to score in four consecutive games for the first time since 1993, with three different managers having overseen a goalless run stretching back to March 18.
Chelsea had an early sight of goal when Joao Felix raced clear of Eder Militao and fired at Thibaut Courtois, only for the former Blues goalkeeper to shovel the ball to safety.