Chelsea take comfort in Sevilla stalemate
LONDON: Frank Lampard admitted he was happy to take a point and a clean sheet from Chelsea’s goalless Champions League opener against Sevilla after so much criticism of his side’s defensive capabilities.
Edouard Mendy returned from injury to replace the error-strewn Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal, but the Senegal international was rarely troubled in an uninspiring match far from the chaos that has characterised the early weeks of the Premier League season.
Chelsea have contributed to that with two 3-3 draws in their opening five games, including at home to Southampton on Saturday when they blew the lead twice.
But Lampard pointed to personnel issues in getting many of his signings from a £220 million ($284 million) spending spree on the pitch together for Chelsea’s slow start to the season.
The Blues have now won just two of their opening six games of the campaign, but looked far more solid with Thiago Silva back in the side as one of five new signings in the starting line-up.
“He was very good today. He brought quality and experience and affected others around him and that was a big part of us getting a clean sheet,” Lampard said of the veteran Brazilian centreback.
“We are going to get better. We haven’t had the personnel in there playing regularly, the more we do that, we’ll get better.”
With Champions League debutants Rennes and Krasnodar making up Group E, both sides were happy to settle for a point against what they will perceive as their toughest opponents in the section.
“It was cagey,” added Lampard. “Two pretty good teams cancelling each other out in the first game, which is understandable. We take the point and move on.”
Sevilla were without highly-rated centre-back Jules Kounde, who attracted interest from Manchester City last month, due to a coronavirus infection.
However, the organised defensive structure that saw Julen Lopetegui’s men beat Manchester United and Inter Milan to win Sevilla’s sixth Europa League title in August kept Chelsea’s expensive collection of attacking stars quiet.