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LONDON: Real Madrid’s pursuit of a 15th European Cup marches on. Chelsea, meanwhile, do not know when they will compete on this elite stage again.
Real’s 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday completed a 4-0 aggregate victory and saw the Spanish giants advance to the Champions League semi-finals for the 11th time in 13 seasons.
Rodrygo scored twice in the second half, finishing a pair of clinical Real moves, to derail a spirited Chelsea comeback that lasted the best part of an hour, but ultimately ended in a fourth straight loss under interim manager Frank Lampard.
And as Chelsea owner Toddy Boehly surveyed the wreckage of his club’s season from hell, the American might have pondered just how long it will be before they feature in the competition again.
Marooned in the unfamiliar bottom half of the Premier League, Chelsea are at risk of their worst domestic league finish in nearly 30 years, left with nothing but pride to play for in the final weeks of a disastrous campaign after they also fell at the first hurdle in the FA Cup and League Cup.
The spectacular slump in the 2022/23 season — during which Chelsea have had three different coaches — stands in contrast with the string of heady campaigns under previous owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
He was forced to sell the club by Britain’s government last year following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Chelsea were the most successful team in England in the period between Abramovich buying the club in 2003 and its sale in 2022, a run that included two Champions League triumphs in 2012 and 2021 and five English league titles.
That track record — and the surge in global support for the west London club along the way — explained Chelsea’s appeal to a consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital, a private equity firm.
On top of the deal to buy the club last May, they have invested a further 550 million pounds on players, spending in the January transfer window more than all the clubs in the top divisions of Spain, Italy, Germany and France combined.
But somehow they failed to buy someone capable of scoring goals on a regular basis. Chelsea have scored 30 goals in 31 league games so far. Tuesday’s blank was the fifth in six games in all competitions.
With no spearhead for their attack, Chelsea’s managers this season — Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and now caretaker boss Lampard — have all struggled to turn a collection of expensive stars and home-grown talent into a cohesive team.
Lampard found crumbs of comfort from his side’s performance as Chelsea matched the reigning champions for nearly an hour on Tuesday and had they possessed a functioning attack might have given themselves a chance at redemption.
“I think for 60 minutes the only thing missing was a goal,” Lampard told reporters. “One goal or two goals changes the face of the game and at this level when you’re not clinical you see what happens. The end bit of scoring is crucial and something we need to address.”
But the question is how much lower can Chelsea sink.
“Chelsea have had huge success for 20 years, winning the Premier League, qualifying for the Champions League year after year. Maybe this is the year where we aren’t quite where we want to be,” Lampard said.
“Manchester United and Arsenal have spent time out of the Champions League. Maybe some clubs are more stable than we are at the minute in terms of the squad. But we can set the building blocks now for where we want to get to.”
Julian Nagelsmann, sacked by Bayern Munich this season, and former Spain boss Luis Enrique are believed to have spoken to Chelsea as the club searches for yet another manager.
Yet anyone on Chelsea’s shortlist might want to consider that it was Real boss Carlo Ancelotti who brought the curtain down on his old club’s wretched campaign.
Ancelotti was sacked by then-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich only a year after winning the Premier League and FA Cup double in 2010.
Boehly appears to have inherited Abramovich’s ruthless approach to managers.
But the Russian’s cash unquestionably transformed Chelsea into serial winners, giving them a status and respect that Boehly, despite his cash, is already eroding.
MILAN REJOIN EUROPE’S ELITE
While Chelsea look to prevent the club’s slump stretching into next season, AC Milan are regaining their pedigree as a European power after a turbulent stretch marked by the end of Silvio Berlusconi’s ownership and financial issues.
The seven-time continental champions reached the last four of the Champions League for the first time since they won the trophy 16 years ago after Olivier Giroud struck the crucial goal in a 1-1 draw at Napoli which completed a 2-1 aggregate victory over their fellow Italians.
Stefano Pioli’s Milan withstood a barrage of pressure as goalkeeper Mike Maignan blocked a late penalty from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Napoli’s standout winger, with Giroud also having a penalty kick saved before his goal.
Runaway Serie A leaders Napoli battled until the end but could not break down the resilient Milan defence until striker Victor Osimhen equalised three minutes into stoppage time with a bullet header but it was too late as the referee ended the match seconds later.
Pioli’s side will now face either Inter Milan or Benfica, with the Italian side leading 2-0 from the first leg, but he said that he isn’t thinking about a potential Milan derby in the semi-finals.
“We’re too happy to have overcome such a good team… it’s a great feeling,” Pioli said reporters. “Let’s take it one step at a time, whoever we get, we get. Whoever we get it will be a great derby and Champions League semi-final.
“This gives us real faith in ourselves. We already had belief but getting past Napoli and Tottenham will help us grow. These are experiences which give you the strength and ability to manage a certain type of pressure. For many of us it was the first time that we were playing such an important match…It’s another big step forward.”
Napoli, meanwhile, can now focus on closing out their first Serie A title in more than 30 years, since Maradona led the southern club to its only two Italian league championships in 1987 and 1990.
“Congratulations to Milan and also to my players,” said Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti. “We had a great Champions League. We came to these games a bit out of steam, and we paid for our inexperience.”