Chelsea score three in Madrid? They’re 374 minutes without a goal

It is an interview that did not take long to age very badly.

“I say have a lot of faith and we're going to win 3-0 tonight. We look at this as a very long-term process and we have a lot of work to do. We're excited about the future. The future is bright and we're excited about tonight.”

Only Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly knows whether his pre-match prediction for their Champions League game at the home of holders Real Madrid, declared on camera as he walked out of a restaurant in the Spanish capital, was serious or just a bit of mischievous fun. Either way, it backfired and must have helped Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti do his team talk for him.

There is nothing wrong with showing a bit of confidence, but even if said partly with tongue in cheek, one wonders where and on what grounds Boehly plucked the 3-0 scoreline from. Backing Chelsea to win is one thing, albeit still quite bold given the quality of the opposition. But expecting this team to score three goals in a game these days is quite a leap of faith.

It is a feat they have managed only three times in 41 fixtures this season, and only one of those three-goal performances has been since the World Cup four months ago. Finding the net twice in a game has been achieved 14 times. After losing the first leg to Real Madrid 2-0, at least one of these statistics will have to be improved at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday for Chelsea to progress to the semi-final.

It is hard to see how they will do this. They have gone 374 minutes without scoring at all. You have to go back to before the international break in March for the last time a Chelsea player celebrated beating an opposition keeper. The run of four scoreless games is Chelsea's worst streak for 30 years.

You can already sense a hint of exasperation in caretaker manager Frank Lampard's voice as he thinks of ways to solve the problem and he has been back in charge for only a week.

“I get that question a lot,” he said. “My first feeling is work on the training pitch. We work a lot on the last third, finishing and crosses and the ideas we want to get across. I don't think we can go much further than we do. The last bit is sometimes confidence, whether it's an individual thing or team confidence. I think I come back to the work side of it then. If you work, keep going, something can change.

“No player doesn't want to score a goal. Sometimes they need support, confidence and a push in a positive way. It's not just next week, it's my job until the end of the season because it's been happening and I've come into this and it's my job to address it as well as I can.”

This is a major issue he inherited and little blame lies at his door. Chelsea have been their own worst enemies, paying the price for decisions made since last summer.

Despite spending more than £500million ($620m) in two transfer windows, Chelsea do not have an elite striker leading the line. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was bought on deadline day in August as a short-term option, a stopgap, but has featured only seven times as a substitute since November and was left out of the Champions League squad for the knockout phase by previous head coach Graham Potter.

Whether the high bonus Aubameyang is entitled to for every appearance he makes had anything to do with it only Chelsea know, but they are paying a much bigger price for his absence now.

One suspects Lampard, who wanted to buy Aubameyang from Arsenal three years ago when in charge of Chelsea first time around, would love to have him as an option. After all, he recalled him into the squad for his first match back at the helm against Wolves last weekend.

Aubameyang's record against Real Madrid is impressive. He has amassed seven goals in his last five games against them (for Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona). Five of those came in four games at the Bernabeu. Even at 33, Real Madrid will be delighted he was not lining up against them on Wednesday evening, nor will be available for the return leg next week.

Aubameyang scoring against Real Madrid during his time at Barcelona (Photo: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

The other forward the new Chelsea owners have bought is David Datro Fofana, but the choice not to add him to the Champions League squad after joining from Molde in January is a bit more understandable given he is very raw. The club have also not been helped by Armando Broja suffering a serious knee injury back in December.

Christopher Nkunku is joining from Red Bull Leipzig in the summer and the intent to sign a top-class No 9 in the next window is there. But obviously that does not help Chelsea now and with the likelihood of no European football to offer, the top targets will take some convincing to join.

So, what can Lampard do instead? His options up front are Kai Havertz, Joao Felix, Raheem Sterling and maybe Mykhailo Mudryk. Havertz's record is three goals in his last 14. Joao Felix has scored two in 13 since joining on loan from Atletico Madrid. Sterling has three goals since September and Mudryk has yet to get off the mark having joined from Shakhtar Donetsk for an initial £62million in January.

Karim Benzema, in contrast, made it 21 goals in his last 21 Champions League knockout matches for Real Madrid by scoring last night's opener.

In the Bernabeu, Lampard did try something new, pairing Joao Felix's trickery with Sterling's pace in a 3-5-2 formation. Neither excelled. As Real Madrid suffocated Chelsea in a high press, the duo became increasingly isolated, especially Sterling (No 17), as the graphic demonstrating the Chelsea players' average positions indicates. It also shows how few touches Lampard's side had in the Real Madrid penalty area.

Real Madrid will regret not killing off the tie, especially as they were against 10 men for more than half an hour after Ben Chilwell was sent off.

Any prospect of a comeback, however, feels remote. After witnessing this chastening experience, it might be a while before you hear Boehly make such a daring forecast on camera again.