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Lampard seeks trophy tonic to ease Euro pain
Evening Standard 18 Feb 2008
Frank Lampard insists Chelsea's Champions League heartache will drive them on against Olympiacos tomorrow night towards their dream of lifting the trophy.
The midfielder has suffered the pain of semi-final elimination in three of the past four seasons and believes that bitter experience will get his side firing in a hostile atmosphere in Athens.
He said: "The disappointments spur us on because there is a frustration to get to three semi-finals and not push on through. The final is very high on our agenda and we are determined to do well in the Champions League.
"We won't complain about the draw but the last thing we want to do is go there with a slack attitude and give ourselves an uphill battle for the return leg at Stamford Bridge.
"People will think Olympiacos away is an easy draw but they are a good team. It will be a difficult atmosphere, they are strong at home. We will need to be very professional."
Olympiacos' only defeat in the group stage came at the hands of Real Madrid when they were reduced to 10 men for two-thirds of the game. Chelsea manager Avram Grant is taking them very seriously and knows how highly owner Roman Abramovich would value winning the competition.
Grant said: "Our major target for this year and next is to at least be in the final. But Olympiacos are a good team. They played Lazio, Werder Bremen and Real Madrid in their group and in all the games they were better than their opponents, apart from one game when they were down to 10 men against Real. We will have to be at our best."
The Champions League is the one that got away for Chelsea in the Abramovich era and is described as the Holy Grail within the club.
But Lampard does not want Chelsea to get obsessed with the tournament, particularly with three other trophies to play for. He said: "Winning the Champions League would be huge. The status we have earned over the last few years, it is the one that is missing.
"But I don't think it will make or break us because it is a funny competition. A lot of teams who arenot expected to win it do just that and you need a bit of luck.
"But with the set-up we have, Chelsea will win the Champions League and hopefully it will be this year."
The return of Lampard and John Terry after injury problems is cause for optimism at Chelsea ahead of the game.
The defender demonstrated his recovery from a broken foot with an excellent 90 minutes in the 3-1 FA Cup fifth-round win against Huddersfield on Saturday, while his midfield team-mate made the scoresheet again.
Lampard, in his second game back after a thigh problem, took his Chelsea goal tally to 101 by scoring in the 18th minute and then again after 60 minutes following Michael Collins's leveller. Salomon Kalou hit Chelsea's third.
