Lampard: Fightback shows we are going places

Frank Lampard has claimed his Chelsea team have proved they “can go places” by staging an incredible Champions League fightback to draw with Ajax on one of the wildest nights of his career.

Trailing 4-1 in the second half, Chelsea hit back to draw and were denied a dramatic winner by VAR after Ajax had Daley Blind and Joel Veltman sent off.

The result means Ajax, Chelsea and Valencia are tied on seven points in Group H with two games left. The Blues travel to Spain to play Valencia next on Nov 27.

Lampard said: “The spirit that we showed and the character was something that I loved, and I think our fans loved. We need to tighten up for sure, but with that spirit we can go places.

“Today was a mad one, I don’t think there are too many I can even compare it to from my day. I know we had 4-4s with Liverpool and some crazy games. This one is hard to put into perspective. For everything it was, for the spectacle it was, it is certainly up there.”

Chelsea were behind 4-1 but Lampard was confident his team could get back into the game. Following Jorginho’s first-half penalty, Chelsea snatched a draw through Cesar Azpilicueta, another Jorginho spot-kick and a goal from substitute Reece James.

“I’m relieved from the position at half-time, although I told the players at half-time that we could draw the game 3-3 or win 4-3, or it might be 4-4,” Lampard said. “I just felt that the few moments we conceded in the first half were a mixture of our sloppiness and also some bad fortune.

“We just needed a bit more, a bit more in the final third and to lift the spirit in the stadium. I’m delighted with that part of it and we’re probably a bit disappointed in the last 10 minutes not to win it, but in the cold light of day we were 4-1 down so it was a good result.”

On Chelsea’s prospects of qualifying from the group, with games against Valencia and Lille to come, Lampard said: “It’s tough. We are kicking ourselves with the Valencia game now with the penalty.

“I felt teams could take points off each other. We’re in it, but we certainly have work to do. We need to go to Valencia and Lille come here. Both of those are very tough matches. The performances in Lille and at Ajax should give us confidence. Valencia have had a great result tonight [beating Lille] and that will give them confidence that they can go through.”