Frank Lampard earns unwanted 118-year Chelsea record as Real Madrid crush ambitious European dreams

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A rudderless Chelsea fell to another 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night with hopes for more European success crushed.

Frank Lampard became the first Chelsea manager in the club's history to lose his first four opening games as Real Madrid crushed any faint Champions League hopes at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.

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The Blues needed to overturn a 2-0 deficit against the Galacticos and, despite dominating play in the first half, fell to another 2-0 loss without more than a whimper.

It was Madrid forward Rodrygo who stole the headlines during the fixture with his brace for the Spanish giants, who will face either Manchester City or Bayern Munich in the semi-final next month.

However, it didn't take long for statisticians to crunch the numbers after the meeting and turn their attention to temporary Chelsea boss Frank Lampard.

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Since arriving at the club on April 6, the ex-midfielder has seen his side lose to Wolves, Brighton and Real Madrid twice in a miserable beginning to his second spell at the helm of his former club.

In doing so, Lampard has become the first Chelsea manager in the club's 118-year history to be defeated in each of his first four matches in charge.

The visit of Brentford on Wednesday, April 26 is the next chance for Lampard to rectify that poor run of form but Thomas Frank's side won't go down easily as they look for their highest-ever Premier League finish.

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Speaking after the crushing loss to Carlo Ancelotti's Madrid, Lampard said: "Every game you play you have to give everything. I've been here now for only two weeks so I'm hungry.

Frank Lampard has had a poor start to his second Chelsea managerial stint (Image: Getty Images)Frank Lampard has had a poor start to his second Chelsea managerial stint (Image: Getty Images)
Frank Lampard has had a poor start to his second Chelsea managerial stint (Image: Getty Images) | Getty Images

"I won't let anyone off the hook in terms of seeing this season out. It has to be the opposite.

"It's not for the want of trying We had lots of crosses and lots of players in good positions so I will never criticise the lads for that - it's just the fact that if they took any of those chances. If the tie went to 2-1 at any point, you really would have felt the crowd turn.

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"We were playing world-class opposition there and we were, for me, the better team and had chances.

"It's the first game since I've been back that I've seen the things and we've really been implementing them - and that's something that we want to continue for the rest of the season.

"Now that standard cannot drop. That's the one message, once the dust settles on this, in-house."

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