Only final win will ease Frank Lampard’s Barcelona pain

Simon Johnson
15 Sep 2009

In recent years, Frank Lampard and Jose Mourinho have been members of their own mutual admiration society. The Special One could do no wrong in the eyes of Lampard, who even contemplated leaving Stamford Bridge to join his former boss at Inter Milan before finally committing his future to Chelsea.

But for a few seconds, while watching television just before the start of this season, he had reason to curse the man who took him to another level while he was manager at Stamford Bridge.

Lampard had been trying all summer to erase the memory of Chelsea's painful Champions League exit to Barcelona in the semi-final last season but watching Mourinho in a Sky Sports advert on his telly, brought it all back.

Sky had used some of the footage from the controversial match at Stamford Bridge in May as part of their advertising campaign and while Mourinho was waxing lyrical over the coverage, Lampard was seeing a re-run of one of four penalty appeals referee Tom Henning Ovrebo ignored on a night he would rather forget.

The England international had been coping well with the disappointment. During Chelsea's pre-season his main focus had centred around winning the Premier League again, but watching Mourinho and a replay of a shot from Michael Ballack thud into the arm of Samuel Eto'o in the penalty area, was painful.

He said: "I am still annoyed about Barcelona only because they put it on the Sky advert with the handball. I'd forgotten about it a little bit until I saw it with Mourinho.

"It is a bit of a grinder, that one, because of the circumstances. The way we were playing in the back end of last season I thought we were the form team in Europe under Guus Hiddink. It's a shame that happened, but we have to be men and continue.

"When we got knocked out, I had it in my head that I wouldn't watch the final, but I couldn't help but watch it. It was a fantastic display by Barcelona against Manchester United and they were deserved winners in the end."

It was 10 years ago that Chelsea first played in the competition and seven attempts later the Champions League still remains the holy grail for everyone at the club. Reaching the final in 2008 is the closest they have come and they kick off their eighth campaign at home to Porto tonight hoping to go one better.

The next 12 months could be the greatest in Lampard's career, especially following England's impressive qualifying campaign to secure their place at the World Cup next summer.

At the moment, though, he only has thoughts of being crowned champion of Europe with his club rather than of the world with his country.

He added: "I've dreamed about the Champions League more than the World Cup, probably because I have sniffed it six times in the last six years. It becomes a bit of a thing in your head - you wake up in sweats! Maybe come next May or June I will be dreaming about the World Cup as well."

With Chelsea having virtually the same squad that have specialised in becoming the unlucky losers of the competition, some may wonder who can make things go better this time around.

No club in the history of the European Cup have come so close to winning it on such a regular basis and have failed to do so. Four semi-finals and one final defeat since 2004 is a record to be haunted by, not cherished.

The Chelsea hierarchy feel they found their answer in the summer when they successfully recruited Carlo Ancelotti from AC Milan as the club's new manager.

Ancelotti won European club football's top honour twice with the Italian side as a player and more importantly, two more times as their coach, and the Stamford Bridge management hope his experience and tactical knowledge will finally end their pain.

Lampard has already seen enough from the Italian already to reassure him that they can finally go all the way.

The midfielder said: "In a way he's similar to Guus, who did so well for us when he came in for the final three months last season and almost took us to the final. He was a fantastic man-manager and Ancelotti seems very good with people too.

"He doesn't want to get involved with what's going on outside of football, but as soon as you come to the training ground he has a chat with you, asks how you're feeling. He's got that touch with him that's important for players to feel from a manager.

"Tactically, like Hiddink, he's very on the ball. He studies opposition and at meetings we talk about how the opposition play and how we will play. He's very thorough, as most top managers are. I would say he is one of the best.

"There is a knack of being a top manager. Football is a simple game. Some managers and coaches try and complicate it. That was the beauty of Guus and what Carlo is doing now. They just keep it simple, playing good football and winning matches."

Lampard's first priority tonight is for Chelsea to control proceedings from the start rather than have to battle from behind again.

In four of their six games this season, including the Community Shield, they have fallen behind in the first half but have fought back to win.

He concluded: "It would be good to go 1-0 up more and not have that panic. It's important that we get the edge early on, and try to get that goal because it makes it a lot easier. At the same time, we have shown great character so far and that will take us a long way."

Lampard will hope it takes them all the way to the Champions League Final in Madrid and finally a chance to lift the trophy.