Arsenal legend Thierry Henry identified a key mistake that Atletico Madrid loanee Joao Felix made in Chelsea’s 2-0 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Felix, who arrived at Chelsea on loan in January, started for the Blues in their away trip to the Santiago Bernabeu for the Champions League quarter-finals.
Goals from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio ensured a first-leg win for Madrid, with Chelsea reduced to 10 men after Ben Chilwell’s sending off after the break.
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Frank Lampard has now suffered back-to-back defeats since he was appointed Chelsea caretaker manager after the sacking of Graham Potter.
Felix was unable to pounce on an early opportunity for Chelsea after coming under pressure from Eduardo Camavinga and being forced out wide.
The 23-year-old Portuguese forward’s eventual effort did little to trouble Thibaut Courtois, with Chelsea impressing early on with their counter-attacks.
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Lampard’s men face an uphill task in overturning a 2-0 aggregate deficit when Chelsea host Madrid at Stamford Bridge for the second leg on 18th April.
Henry was in the CBS Sports studio for the Champions League coverage and pinpointed the clear mistake Felix made in handling Camavinga.
“You would like to think Joao Felix would have had the composure in the box,” he said.
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“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been in that situation and it is not easy.
“What was easy for me was to have the awareness that you need to cut across.
“That’s the first thing that you learn as a centre forward. When defenders are chasing, I cut across.
“Slow or quick striker, it will give you that advantage of 1v1 or a red card. I’ve been in that situation, although I’d like to think I was composed in the box.”
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Henry continued: “You overthink it. I do believe that you always have time in the box, football time.
“When you’re not scoring, it feels like that time is really fast and you don’t have that composure anymore.”
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Topics: Thierry Henry, Joao Felix, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Champions League, Football
Adnan Riaz