METRO
The west Londoners are at the Bernabeu for the first leg of their quarter-final tie and come into the match on the back of a dreadful run of form, with Graham Potter sacked in the middle of a four-game winless streak.
Havertz has been a rare bright spark this season for Chelsea and leads the club’s scoring charts with seven goals in the Premier League and two more in the Champions League, though he has been profligate recently – notably against Liverpool.
Caretaker manager Lampard has decided to utilise the extra speed and dribbling ability of Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix instead to try and hurt Real on the break, while he also felt playing with a three-man midfield was crucial.
Asked about his team selection and the decision to drop Havertz, Lampard told BT Sport: ‘Well I think the balance of the team feels for me that we have to match the Real Madrid midfield, who have got three world-class players in there.
‘So I felt that we’re strong in that area of the pitch. Going with two up front with Raheem and Joao they both have great counter-attacking abilities, at speed, can handle the ball, can get us up the pitch.
‘So it wasn’t an easy choice for me, and it’s absolutely a game where the output is going to be big – on and off the ball – so there will be changes in-game, we’ll have to.
‘So people like Kai, [Mykhailo] Mudryk on the bench, all the midfield players waiting on the bench, wing-backs, people in those really energetic positions are going to have to come in and help the team.’
Connect with us on our socials: