Chelsea's shocking Premier League season continued on Saturday afternoon as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat against struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
How did Frank Lampard's second spell in charge of Chelsea begin?
Frank Lampard, who was appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season earlier in the week, was perhaps never likely to inspire a revolution in the Blues side – and it was the same old problems that haunted Chelsea in their defeat.
Although Matheus Nunes' goal was worthy of winning any football match, Chelsea did little to respond, mustering just one shot on target in what was another woeful attacking display in the Midlands.
With Real Madrid to come on Wednesday, Lampard will need a miracle if he is going to steer the Blues through to the next round, as Saturday marked the third successive game without a goal for the west London side.
The 44-year-old manager will have a lot to think about ahead of the trip to face the European champions, but he can take solace in the fact that Reece James was superb at right-back, despite the defeat at Molineux.
How did Reece James play against Wolves?
Having played against Aston Villa as a centre-back and faced Liverpool as a wing-back, the England international took on his third different position of the week against Wolves, featuring at right-back in their 4-3-3 setup.
As per Sofascore, the 23-year-old would earn an impressive 7.9/10 rating, which was the best of any player to feature in the game from both sides, as he enjoyed 99 touches of the ball.
During the 90 minutes, the former Wigan Athletic loanee was dominant from an attacking and defensive perspective, registering three tackles and three clearances, while he also won 10/14 duels.
Considering he has averaged just two tackles and 0.7 clearances per game in the Premier League this season, it is clear that he raised his game at Molineux, although it is perhaps worrying from Chelsea's perspective that he was so busy.
James also managed an impressive five key passes, four dribbles and completed 95% of his passes, which again were significant increases on his seasonal averages of 1.4 key passes, 1.5 dribbles and a 90.7% pass success rate.
The versatile defender, who was previously dubbed "phenomenal" by Ally McCoist, shouldn't be relied upon as the main source of creativity in this Chelsea side, but he is one of few players that can escape with any credit after another dour display at Molineux.
Although Chelsea's chances are slim, Lampard will be relying on James to be on top form again in midweek for the crunch Champions League clash in Madrid.
