While an obviously talented midfielder, Frank Lampard became one of his generation’s best players thanks in no small part to an unwavering fitness level which he painstakingly honed over the years.
Chelsea’s record goalscorer got the call that he would be making his professional debut for West Ham while he was performing sprint exercises at the local park. Presumably, his father – Frank Lampard Snr., who was on the coaching staff and made the call – had grown weary of his son endlessly sprinting the length of his back garden in running spikes.
Possessed by this maniacal work ethic, it’s unsurprising that Lampard Jr. has not been impressed by the fitness of the Chelsea squad he recently inherited. Yet, with the second leg of a Champions League quarter-final fast approaching on Tuesday night, there is no time for the physical work which the team supposedly needs.
In fact, there is barely enough time for Lampard to recover a gaggle of players that are not only falling short of Lampard’s physical standards but are struggling for match fitness.
Here are all of the absentees, through injury and suspension, which Lampard will have to juggle as Chelsea attempt to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg in Spain.
No team left in the tournament has received more Champions League yellow cards than Chelsea this season. However, Ben Chilwell skipped a caution when he received a straight red card as the deepest defender denying Real Madrid’s Rodrygo a clear goalscoring opportunity last Wednesday.
Despite Chelsea’s prolific number of bookings, Chilwell is the only member of the Blues that is suspended for the return leg. In the unlikely event that Chelsea advance to the semi-finals, no player is at risk of missing the final four as yellow cards are wiped on completion of the quarter-finals.
Kalidou Koulibaly was forced off with a hamstring injury against Real Madrid just four minutes after Chilwell was sent off trying to rectify the poor positioning of Marc Cucurella, Koulibaly’s replacement.
The Senegal international will not feature in the return leg but fellow centre-back Thiago Silva is expected to anchor the defence after sitting out last weekend’s loss to Brighton. Kai Havertz felt a twinge in his knee against Madrid and also missed the dismantling dished out by the Seagulls but returned to training on Monday.
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