Lampard in positive mood despite Chelsea’s defeat against Valencia

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said that the Blues need to perform at their best in the forthcoming European games following their defeat in the Champions League opener against Valencia. The Blues had gone into the match with the momentum on their side after a thumping 5-2 league win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on the road.

However, the result did not go in their favour with Los Che picking up a close 1-0 win and that sees the Blues playing catch up after the opening matchday. Speaking after the game, Lampard acknowledged that the club find themselves in a tricky position after failing to make the most of the home encounter against the Spanish outfit.

He added that the Blues have a couple of away games to follow and they need to win at least one of those in order to stay alive within the group, he told: “The reality of losing the first game at home makes the rest of the games more important, particularly when they come next back-to-back away from home. We need to have a strong focus on getting a result in one of those games now. It’s still a group where I think teams will take points off each other, because all the teams are strong.”

Valencia won the recent Champions League meeting against the Blues after a late goal from Rodrigo but the game could have paved differently, had Ross Barkley converted with the penalty in the 87th minute. Up next, the Blues are scheduled to face Liverpool at home in the Premier League and the game is bound to provide them with another testing challenge.

The Blues outplayed the Reds during the backend of the European Super Cup but they succumbed to a defeat through a penalty shootout. They have the home advantage against Jurgen Klopp’s side this weekend but can anticipate a strong response from the Reds, who suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss to Napoli during their Champions League curtain raiser.