Frank Lampard is now the holder of an unwanted 118-year Chelsea record after losing to Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
The Blues went down 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, the same scoreline they lost by in Madrid a week prior – to not only exit this season’s competition but likely end all hope of qualifying for any kind of European football in 2023/24.
Chelsea legend Lampard was appointed as caretaker manager in early April after the club opted to sack Graham Potter less than seven months into the five-year contract he signed when joining from Brighton, but he has been unable to reverse the club’s alarming slide.
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His short tenure, which has come at a time of extreme fixture congestion, has yielded four successive defeats – the first time any Chelsea manager has suffered that fate in the club’s 118-year history.
Lampard’s return to the club kicked off with a 1-0 defeat at Wolves before Real Madrid schooled Chelsea with a comfortable 2-0 win at the Bernabeu. Brighton, Potter’s former club, then rocked up in west London to take all three points and were comfortably the better side in a 2-1 win.
Tuesday’s defeat to Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie did offer up a better performance, but Chelsea still lost and have only scored one goal since Lampard returned to the dugout.
