CHELSEA fans have been left in disbelief after footage showed a number of players appearing to switch off against Real Madrid.
The mistake proved costly for the Blues stars as the Spanish side took a set piece quickly, and Marco Asensio was able to fire in the side’s second goal of the night.
twitter: @CFCROYALBLUEChelsea’s Wesley Fofana was reading a note as Real Madrid scored from a corner[/caption]
twitter: @CFCROYALBLUEWhile Reece James and other defenders had also switched off[/caption]
Chelsea went on to lose the first leg of the quarter-final 2-0 and it got even worse as Ben Chilwell was sent off and will miss the second leg.
But fans are even more upset with the result as it appears the second goal could have been avoided if the players were more alert.
In the clip posted on social media, Reece James has his back to the ball and Wesley Fofana appears to be reading a note handed to him by one of the substitutes.
And the club’s supporters have slammed them online.
One Chelsea fan tweeted: “Is that defensive “expert” still at the club? state of defending at that corner, looks like Fofana is reading a note when the ball comes in!”
A second commented: “Is nuts, half of them backs turned, pointing, yeah Cucarella does at least move, Fofana (whose legs the ball goes through ) looks like he’s reading a book ….little things make the difference…it ain’t over but so frustrating to concede soft goals.”
A third pointed out: “They’re aren’t even focused on defending the corner. It’s almost like everyone already gave up.”
A fourth wrote: “Only subs that could have brought that note on are either Gallagher or Mount..that’s on Lampard! Sending on a note before a set piece is defended..shocking!”
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A fifth said: “Pls where was James going was he not supposed to mark Vini they left him free.”
While a sixth declared: “SHAMBOLIC.”
After the game, interim boss Frank Lampard admitted his players switched off after going down to ten men.
He said: “The disappointing thing is you give away a set-piece and switch off for the second goal with ten men.
“I don’t think with ten men they carved us open. That was due to the spirit.
“And I think at that part of the game we had our chances, three pretty good chances. Joao [Felix] early, Raheem [Sterling], Mason [Mount] near the end. So there’s some good things, but the result is a reality.
“I just said to the players, special things can happen at Stamford Bridge. They’re a good team, but we have to believe.”