Chelsea president blamed for Real defeat

Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly was approached by a group of reporters as he left a restaurant in Madrid ahead of the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real. Asked if he had any message for Chelsea fans, he replied: "Put a lot of faith in the team and we'll win 3-0 tonight."

In fact, the faith of the fans in Mr. Boehly and the club did not pay off at the Bernabeu. Chelsea lost to the host Real 0-2 in the first leg, in the match Ben Chilwell was sent off in the 59th minute. In the second leg, the British representative needed a result as predicted by Boehly to reverse the situation.

"Big fault on Todd Boehly," one Chelsea fan posted on Twitter after the loss. "He ran the team like it was a FIFA game. The team consisted of the same set of players, all midfielders and no strikers. Yet he dared to predict Chelsea's 3-0 win. It's embarrassing."

Since Todd Boehly took over at Chelsea, the team has spent more than $ 600 million on transfers, hiring three coaches and two directors of football. But in the English Premier League, Chelsea are ranked in the bottom half and in the Champions League, the British representative faces the risk of being eliminated in the quarterfinals. Among the expensive stars that billionaire Boehly brought in such as Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk, Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling, no one is a striker. All are midfielders or defenders.

"Todd just wants to ruin our club," wrote another. "He said Chelsea won 3-0, then let the fans see the team completely overwhelmed by Real." Another fan, more optimistic, quipped: "Probably Boehly meant 3-0 in the second leg, not tonight."

Before the match, president Todd Boehly also urged fans to be patient with the team. He told Sky Sports: "We see this as a long process, with a lot of work to be done. We have a lot of faith in the future. Chelsea's future is very bright."

The group led by billionaire Todd Boehly bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich at the end of May 2022, for a record $5.4 billion for a sports team. Boehly's ambition is to bring Chelsea to the stature of Real - the opponent they just lost 0-2 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals this season. The American billionaire wants Chelsea not only to be loved, but also to become the greatest club in the world.