Chris Sutton was critical of Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling after their Chelsea performances against Real Madrid.
The Blues now have a mountain to climb in the Champions League quarter-finals after a 2-0 defeat at the Bernabeu last night.
Frank Lampard’s side suffered a 2-0 loss out in Spain against Madrid, which puts them hugely on the backfoot for next week’s second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Karim Benzema opened the scoring for the hosts in the first-half before Ben Chilwell was sent off on the hour mark. Madrid then punished their opponents and seized control of the tie when Marco Asensio added a second goal with 15 minutes left to play.
Chelsea have enjoyed some very famous European nights in the past two decades, but they might need to eclipse anything they’ve done before to reach this season’s Champions League semi-finals.
BBC pundit Sutton wasn’t impressed by Joao Felix or Raheem Sterling against Madrid, who started as a two-man attack.
In particular, he doesn’t recall the strike partnership even passing to each other during their time on the pitch together.
Eventually, both were substituted off during the second-half as Chelsea tried to limit the damage.
“Chelsea are too lightweight up at the top. Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling have offered nothing in this second half,” Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live (9:16pm, 12 April).
He later added (10:36pm: “I can’t remember one time tonight when Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix linked up.”
Sutton’s criticism really highlights the fact that Chelsea struggled to get any control in the game and knit passes together.
It did feel like Felix and Sterling were both isolated in attack throughout the contest.
We expect Chelsea to try something different in next week’s second leg at home to Madrid, especially as they trail 2-0 in the quarter-final tie.
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