Facts: This is how the quarter-final returns are played
Tuesday, April 18: Chelsea-Real Madrid (Real leads 2-0), Napoli-Milan (Milan leads 1-0), both 9 p.m.
Wednesday April 19: Bayern Munich v Manchester City (City lead 3-0), Inter v Benfica (Inter lead 2-0), both 9pm.
Semi-finals: Milan/Napoli–Inter/Benfica, Real Madrid/Chelsea–Manchester City/Bayern Munich.
The semi-finals will be played May 9-10 with returns May 16-17. The final will be played in Istanbul on June 10.
Lampard, kicked by Everton earlier this year, left a few weeks ago in uncertainty about his future as a coach.
Suddenly, he was back in the role at Chelsea, whose coaching circus in recent years has been full of twists and turns and an impressive ensemble.
Lampard was sacked by Chelsea in 2021, replaced by Thomas Tuchel who in turn got the footing at the start of this season and in stepped Graham Potter. The former Östersund coach was relieved of his duties ten days ago, Bruno Saltor had to temporarily take over before the circle was closed and Lampard was welcomed back.
— We have great respect for Real Madrid but we come here to win. We must believe in ourselves. You can’t get to a quarter-final in the Champions League and not have faith, Lampard told C More shortly before kick-off.
Got a hug from Ancelotti
Lampard was welcomed to the Santiago Bernabéu with a warm hug by Real manager Carlo Ancelotti, who Lampard had as a Chelsea player for a few years.
Carlo Ancelotti, right, and Frank Lampard hug each other.
Chelsea showed direct evidence of will and courage. Joao Felix almost broke free with Thibaut Courtois, but was broken by a defender before he could finish.
Halfway into the first half, Real took command. Kepa Arrizabalaga stopped Vinicius Junior’s volley but Karim Benzema slotted home the rebound to make it 1-0 in his 130th CL appearance for Real.
A minute later, Raheem Sterling was extremely close to equalizing but Courtois got a fist on the ball down by one of the chairs.
Chelsea’s hopes of a good result were reduced when Ben Chilwell was red-carded for shirt pulling on Rodrygo. With one man more in the last 30 minutes, it was the most Real for the whole penny.
Substitute Marco Asensio had been on the pitch for just over two minutes when he sent in 2-0 with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Advantage Milan
In the all-Italian quarter-final meeting, Milan have the advantage after 1-0 at home against Napoli.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, currently injured, is not in Milan’s squad for the Champions League. When the squad was announced for the round of 16, it was still uncertain whether he would be able to play after last summer’s cruciate ligament surgery.
Napoli had most of the best initially at the San Siro in Milan. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia squandered a really good opportunity and Piotr Zielinski forced Mike Maignan into a sharp parry.
Milan lifted the game and shortly before the break came the payoff. Ismaël Bennacer scored 1-0 in one corner.
Simon Kjaer was on the verge of heading in 2-0 in added time, but hit the crossbar.
André Zambo Anguissa received his second caution in the 75th minute. That didn’t make Napoli’s pursuit of an equalizer any easier.
The returns are played in one week.