Frank Lampard’s challenging stint at Chelsea continues with a visit to the Santiago Bernabeu to play against Real Madrid in the Champions League. Although winning the competition is not his goal, a decent show of strength against the Spanish giants is vital.
Chelsea’s recent preparations, a 1-0 loss to Wolves, has not prepared the team well enough. However, Lampard received good news as he prepares the team for the showdown. N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount and Thiago Silva are back for the team and could be featured to reduce possible defensive errors.
Silva’s return couldn’t have been more opportune considering that his experience is required to tackle Karim Benzema, who is a Ballon d’Or winner with 25 goals from 32 games this season.
At £110k-per-week, Silva’s skills are invaluable. Furthermore, With 30 team trophies to his name, the Brazilian comes highly recommended by Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, who describes Silva as “the best defender in the world.”
Although he may have lost his pace, his game reading and composure more than makes up for this shortfall, making him one of the top 6% of defenders across Europe for pass completion and the best 13% for percentage of dribblers tackled per 90 minutes.
In a two-legged fixture against Madrid, Silva’s presence will be invaluable. The experienced defender’s presence in the Blues’ squad presents a possibility, if not slim, to stop the lethal duo of Benzema and Vinicius Jr.
Chelsea is fortunate to have the likes of Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile, who are the best up-and-coming centre-backs in the game, but Silva’s input is unmatched-you can’t buy experience.
