Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has explained his decision to drop top scorer Kai Havertz for Wednesday’s Champions League showdown with Real Madrid, while he was delighted to welcome back Thiago Silva.
The west Londoners are at the Bernabeu for the first leg of their quarter-final tie and come into the match on the back of a dreadful run of form, with Graham Potter sacked in the middle of a four-game winless streak.
Havertz has been a rare bright spark this season for Chelsea and leads the club’s scoring charts with seven goals in the Premier League and two more in the Champions League, though he has been profligate recently – notably against Liverpool.
Caretaker manager Lampard has decided to utilise the extra speed and dribbling ability of Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix instead to try and hurt Real on the break, while he also felt playing with a three-man midfield was crucial.
Asked about his team selection and the decision to drop Havertz, Lampard told BT Sport: ‘Well I think the balance of the team feels for me that we have to match the Real Madrid midfield, who have got three world-class players in there.
‘So I felt that we’re strong in that area of the pitch. Going with two up front with Raheem and Joao they both have great counter-attacking abilities, at speed, can handle the ball, can get us up the pitch.
‘So it wasn’t an easy choice for me, and it’s absolutely a game where the output is going to be big – on and off the ball – so there will be changes in-game, we’ll have to.
‘So people like Kai, [Mykhailo] Mudryk on the bench, all the midfield players waiting on the bench, wing-backs, people in those really energetic positions are going to have to come in and help the team.’
Veteran centre-back Thiago Silva is back in the starting line-up after missing the last seven matches and Lampard is delighted to be able to call on a player he actually signed on a free transfer two years ago.
Asked if Silva has done enough training to be fit for the match, Lampard replied: ‘I hope so! He’s an incredible professional, that’s why he’s in such good shape at this stage of his career.
‘So there were no doubts for me if he’s fit, the only thing was to have that conversation to see that he was fit.
‘And I think at this level – we always want to develop players, we want young players, we want to see these things – but in a game of this high level players like Thiago and N’Golo in the team are a huge lift for us.
‘They’re leaders all in their own different ways, so for a game of this magnitude it was crucial for us [to have them fit].’
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