Advertisement

Lampard sets Bayern benchmark for youthful Chelsea

SHOWS: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (OCTOBER 19, 2020) (UEFA - Broadcast and Digital: NO RESALES. NO COMMERCIAL USE. MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY "©UEFA 2020".)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANK LAMPARD, CHELSEA MANAGER, SAYING:

"I think it's a great platform to learn because in the Champions League you are playing the best and we played against the best in Bayern Munich."

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANK LAMPARD, CHELSEA MANAGER, SAYING:

"We were a young team last year who were working a lot to improve. I think the Bayern Munich game was a great marker for particularly the young players in the squad, to realise the levels that need to be attained. I remember having that feelings myself as a younger player.

"Getting through the group was also difficult for us having lost the first game last year so we needed to show a lot of discipline and focus to get through hard matches away at Ajax and away at Lille. So hopefully there's some really good lessons that the players and team have learned in that period."

4. WHITE FLASH

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANK LAMPARD, CHELSEA MANAGER, SAYING:

"I think when I mentioned before about concentration focus and discipline, and our away results last year, I think that becomes even more important than in any other kind of football because of the levels of the Champions League.

"That's something that I will always put very clearly to the players going into games of this level against opposition like Seville."

6. WHITE FLASH

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANK LAMPARD, CHELSEA MANAGER, SAYING:

"I keep talking about the need for work and how things can take time. We're playing with some new players coming into the squad and players that are coming into play in the first team. I think it's very understandable at this stage of the season to have moments in games when I talk about game management and the need to maybe go longer, mix our game up. It's something that obviously has to be worked on with time.

"Things like Southampton at the weekend unfortunately are a lesson to be learnt in real time. We don't have so much time with the players so far this season and that will come. We need to make sure the lessons are learnt quickly and the players are very aware of that."

STORY: Chelsea manager Frank Lampard believes reigning European champions Bayern Munich are a benchmark for his young players as they target improvements on all fronts ahead of their Champions League opener against Sevilla.

Bayern thrashed Lampard's Chelsea 7-1 on aggregate in the round of 16 last season before lifting the trophy for the sixth time in August.

"It is a great platform to learn because you're playing against the best, and we played against the best in Bayern Munich," Lampard told a news conference on Tuesday (October 19).

"We were a young team last year who were working a lot to improve. I think the Bayern Munich game was a great marker for particularly the young players in the squad, to realise the levels that need to be attained. I remember having that myself as a young player.

Chelsea have added Champions League experience to the squad in the close season with the arrival of defender Thiago Silva and forwards Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech.

Lampard's players, however, have struggled to get up to speed following a short pre-season and suffered another lapse in concentration on Saturday when Southampton came from behind to secure a 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Sevilla visit Stamford Bridge for Chelsea's first match in Group E, which also includes Russian side FC Krasnodar and France's Stade Rennais.

(Production: Andy Ragg)