Sports

Champions League: Lampard And Tuchel To Attempt A Miracle, Osimhen Is Fully Back

Published

17 April 2023

6:06 PM

Champions League Fixtures: Two Teams Qaulify To Quarter-Final

The caretaker coach of Chelsea, Frank Lampard has a very big chance of proving himself as an elite coach by leading the struggling club to do the unthinkable against Real Madrid in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals round on Tuesday.

A week after defeating Chelsea 2-0 in the first leg of the round at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, coach Carlo Ancelotti will lead Real Madrid to Stamford Bridge for the return leg.

Most pundits have already given the tie to the Spanish club not just because of the outcome of the first leg but because of the terrible form of Chelsea under Lampard.

Note that since Lampard was made the caretaker coach of Chelsea in March, his team has recorded just a goal in three matches and are yet to record any win.

They have suffered league defeats against struggling Wolves and in form Brighton, and then their first-leg Champions League quarter-finals defeat to Real Madrid.

Chelsea who are currently placed 11th in the league, hence, they can’t qualify for the Champions League next season unless they win the tournament this season.

To do that, they will have to overturn the first-leg deficit by beating Real Madrid 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday (8 PM WAT). Once that happens, virtually all Chelsea fans would forgive the embarrassing performance of the team so far.

Can Thomas Tuchel perform a miracle?

Just like Chelsea are in search of a miracle against Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals round, their former coach, Thomas Tuchel is in dying need of one in Germany.

Tuchel who took over from Julian Nagelsmann in March has been struggling in the role as he suffered a 3-0 defeat in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals at the Etihad Stadium.

Now, the German tactician must prove that he is better than Nagelsmann who lead Bayern to record 100 percent performance in the tournament until he was sacked days before the first leg of the quarter-finals round.

The former Chelsea and PSG coach must find a way to make Bayern beat Manchester City 4-0 on Wednesday, April 19 to overturn the outcome of the first leg, a miracle that is looking impossible to perform against a Pep Guardiola-led team.

Victor Osimhen is back!

After being sidelined for over three weeks, Victor Osimhen is back to the pitch at a time his Italian club, Napoli needed him the most.

In his absence, Napoli lost the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final round against their domestic rivals AC Milan at San Siro.

Before the 1-0 defeat, Milan beat Napoli 4-0 at the Maradona stadium in the league while Osimhen was still battling to recover from his thigh injury.

The 24-year-old Nigerian striker who is currently the highest goalscorer in Italian Serie A returned against Verona last weekend. Though he started from the bench in the 0-0 league draw, he is expected to lead the attack against AC Milan on Tuesday.

Napoli need to beat Milan 2-0 to overturn the outcome of the first leg. Hence, Osimhen’s return is as timely as it should be for his side.