Real Madrid’s pursuit of a 15th European Cup marches on. Chelsea, meanwhile, do not know when they will compete on this elite stage again.
Real’s 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge completed a 4-0 aggregate victory and saw the Spanish giants advance to the Champions League semi-finals for the 11th time in 13 seasons.
Rodrygo scored twice in the second half, finish-ing a pair of clinical Real moves, to derail a spirited Chelsea comeback that lasted the best part of an hour, but ultimately ended in a fourth straight loss under interim manager Frank Lampard.
And as Chelsea owner Toddy Boehly surveyed the wreckage of his club’s season from hell, the American might have pondered just how long it will be before they feature in the competition again.
Marooned in the unfamiliar bottom half of the Premier League, Chelsea are at risk of their worst domestic league finish in nearly 30 years, left with nothing but pride to play for in the final weeks of a disastrous campaign after they also fell at the first hurdle in the FA Cup and League Cup.
The spectacular slump in the 2022/23 season — during which Chelsea have had three different coaches — stands in contrast with the string of heady campaigns under previous owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
He was forced to sell the club by Britain’s gov-ernment last year following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Chelsea were the most successful team in Eng-land in the period between Abramovich buying the club in 2003 and its sale in 2022, a run that included two Champions League triumphs in 2012 and 2021 and five English league titles.
That track record — and the surge in global support for the west London club along the way — explained Chelsea’s appeal to a consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital, a private equity firm.
On top of the deal to buy the club last May, they have invested a further 550 million pounds on play-ers, spending in the January transfer window more than all the clubs in the top divisions of Spain, Italy, Germany and France combined.
But somehow they failed to buy someone capable of scoring goals on a regular basis. Chelsea have scored 30 goals in 31 league games so far. Tuesday’s blank was the fifth in six games in all competitions.
With no spearhead for their attack, Chelsea’s managers this season — Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and now caretaker boss Lampard — have all struggled to turn a collection of expensive stars and home-grown talent into a cohesive team.
Lampard found crumbs of comfort from his side’s performance as Chelsea matched the reigning champions for nearly an hour on Tuesday and had they possessed a functioning attack might have given themselves a chance at redemption.
“I think for 60 minutes the only thing missing was a goal,” Lampard told reporters. “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.”
But the question is how much lower can Chelsea sink. “Chelsea have had huge success for 20 years, winning the Premier League, qualifying for the Champions League year after year. Maybe this is the year where we aren’t quite where we want to be,” Lampard said.
“Manchester United and Arsenal have spent time out of the Champions League. Maybe some clubs are more stable than we are at the minute in terms of the squad.—AFP