)
The Blues legend was set to work as a co-commentator on the Champions League tie but will now be in the dugout
BBC presenter Darren Fletcher has revealed that Frank Lampard was already scheduled to be co-commentating on Chelsea's Champions League clash with Real Madrid next week.
The Chelsea legend was appointed the club's interim coach on Thursday, tasked with guiding the club safely through to the end of the season but would have been working on the heavyweight clash in a different capacity had he not been called back to the club.
He will instead be travelling to the Spanish capital as the man tasked with coming up with tactics that will bring down the European champions in what is set to be just his second game in charge of his old club since his return.
“Frank Lampard was supposed to be with us in Madrid to do commentary for the Real Madrid vs Chelsea match with me,” Fletcher said during BBC 5 Live's Friday Football Social.
“He sent me a message saying "I'm supposed to be there working with you, and now I'm going to be on the line!"
'It's total madness that he was going to be there anyway, now he's going to be there in a very important capacity, let alone watching it and analysing it,” added Fletcher.
“You can imagine what his head's like at the minute, when you were supposed to be working for the television, but now not only are you going to be there, but you're going to be picking the team, working out the tactics, trying to motivate everybody, and in the process try and beat the European champions.”
Lampard's second stint in the dugout for his former club kicks off on Saturday, when the Blues take on Wolves at Molineux.
Chelsea's record goal scorer has inherited a side stuck in 11th place on the table after Graham Potter's sacking last weekend.
The former Brighton and Hove Albion boss struggled to get consistency out of a Chelsea squad that saw a mass influx of players in both the summer and winter transfer windows.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)