Chelsea’s Champions League loss to Real Madrid is what you’d expect

What more could you have reasonably expected from Chelsea? Looking back on their unforgiving 2-0 loss to Real Madrid there was only one obvious answer to the question that will plague Frank Lampard in the coming six days: how can his players get close to their counterparts in white? There is no tactical wheeze, no systemic adjustment that is going to bridge the chasm. Chelsea just need better players.

On the evidence of tonight’s performance, there is precious little false about their positioning in the Premier League. This was the sort of display you’d expect from a midtable English side against the reigning champions of Europe. There were flashes, especially at the outset, where you could start sketching out the introduction to a different story. What hope for the rest of the continent when the average Premier League club can cut through them with the speed and vision of N’Golo Kante and Joao Felix?

Enzo Fernandez was finding pockets of space to deliver his passes, Reece James was careening up the right and Raheem Sterling was dropping into midfield to allow Chelsea to string together meandering spells in possession. It was not a lot, but you could convince yourself it might be a foothold on…