Blues head into stormy waters
LAST-16: YOUNG TEAM NEED A CALMER FINISH – LAMPARD
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard wants his young side to be more ruthless after a 2-1 win over a much-changed Lille at Stamford Bridge secured their place in the last-16 of the Champions League.
Progress to the knockout stages at the expense of last season’s semifinalists Ajax is an impressive achievement for the Blues boss after a summer in which the club lost Eden Hazard to Real Madrid and were unable to add to their squad due to a transfer ban.
First-half goals from Tammy Abraham and Cesar Azpilicueta seemed to have Chelsea cruising into the knockout stages.
However, Lampard was left frustrated at having to endure a nervy final 12 minutes when Loic Remy pulled a goal back.
“It’s going to be a work in progress. With the young players we have in this side there will be bumps in the road,” said Lampard. “I push them and can be quite hard on them, setting the high standards I want to see them reach, but at the same time I have to be patient.
“Today was a sign of how much work we still have got to do. It should have been a calmer finish to the game and that is the biggest thing that we need to improve.”
Chelsea progressed to second place in Group H behind Valencia, who beat Ajax 1-0 in Amsterdam, and face the daunting prospect of a last-16 tie against Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus or Leipzig.
“It’s a good achievement, but in the next stage and how cut-throat it will be, we can’t afford to miss chances or give chances away like we have,” added Lampard.
“It’s a very tough draw no matter who it is because we came second in our group.
“We should be very pleased we are there and embrace the challenge whoever we get.”
Chelsea had won just one of their previous five games after a great start under Lampard and he responded by adding more experience to what has been a very young side.
Antonio Rudiger returned from injury to make just his second start of the campaign at centre-back, while Jorginho was restored in midfield to the side that lost 3-1 to Everton last Saturday.
Lille have been the whipping boys in a three-way shoot out for two places in the last-16 and showed why 10 minutes before halftime when Azpilicueta was left unmarked to head home a corner from close range.
“We need to take more of our chances,” said Lampard. “They had two shots and one goes in.” – AFP