Chelsea defender Frank Lampard, Romelu Lukaku and Karim Benzema are the best players in the world

• By Shamoon Hafez
• ` Sport

1 hour ago

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Chelsea suffered a defeat against Wolves on Saturday in Frank Lampard’s first game since returning as manager

Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly believes interim boss Frank Lampard is the right man to lead the club out of a ‘difficult situation’.

Eleventh in the Premier League, the Blues meet holders Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with the first leg on Wednesday.

But Koulibaly said they aim to “achieve something big this year.”

Lampard is Chelsea’s all-time top scorer, winning three league titles in his 13 years as a player and the 2012 Champions League before managing them from 2019-2021.

And Senegalese captain Koulibaly, 31, told ` Sport: “We know he’s a legend here and he’s already coached half the squad.

“The situation is like this at the moment, but in training he said that he will support us until the end and help us get out of this situation.

“We know it’s a difficult situation for everyone, including the club, the manager and the fans, but we will do everything we can to get out of this situation and make them happy.

“Our first goal is to win the games and make our fans happy.”

Former Brighton boss Potter was sacked on April 2 after being in charge for less than seven months and spending £550m on new players this season.

Asked if Englishman Potter will be returning to a big job soon, Koulibaly, who arrived from Napoli last summer, replied: “I think so. He is a nice manager, nice person and helped me a lot.

“It’s true I had difficult moments when I first came here to Chelsea but his staff were really important and they helped us a lot. I’m sorry for him but it’s part of the job.”

“I hope he has a good future but for now we are all focused on Chelsea and Frank Lampard.”

“Amazing” that games for Muslim players are paused

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Koulibaly is one of four Muslim players in the Chelsea first-team currently celebrating Ramadan

Koulibaly recently spent an evening at his local mosque speaking to those attending the Open Iftar – breaking the fast – at Stamford Bridge last month, the first event of its kind to be held at a Premier League stadium.

The club have three other Muslim players in the first-team – Wesley Fofana, N’Golo Kante and Hakim Ziyech – who Koulibaly says are “talking about Islam together” because his religion is “everything” to him.

He said: “During Ramadan, teammates see us praying and asking what we are doing. Most of the time they think that Ramadan is about not eating or drinking, but it’s about more than that.

“It’s about understanding what we read in the Koran, the religion, our behavior and also our Prophet Muhammad. We have to explain this to them so that we can give an answer if someone asks.

“When you come here and see that they can stop games for Muslims to fill up, have a drink and recharge a little, that’s amazing. This has never happened to me, so this feeling is amazing.

“I saw it on TV when Wesley broke his fast at Leicester during the game. It was amazing. When they do it for you, it’s amazing. I was really happy and I’m looking forward to it again.”

“I’m with Romelu, I feel sorry for him”

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Koulibaly was racially abused by Inter Milan fans in Napoli in 2018

Last week, Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku said “history repeats itself” after he was racially abused by Juventus fans in their Coppa Italia meeting.

The Belgium international was sent off for putting his finger to his lips in front of home fans after scoring a penalty in the 95th minute and urged Serie A “to really act this time”.

During his eight years in Italy for Napoli, Koulibaly faced racial abuse from fans on a number of occasions, including at Inter in 2018.

“I don’t know why this keeps happening,” he added. “There are some stupid people who think they can do whatever they want. Society isn’t like that and I say to Romelu I’m with him.

“I know that feeling, it happened to me and it’s really bad. We have to be proud of him, proud of what he did. He paid no respect to anyone and only expressed his feeling at that moment.

“It was good for me. Maybe others felt that he was annoying them, but they played with him with these stupid actions against him. I feel sorry for him but everyone is with him and we will always support him. “

Benzema “best striker in the world”

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Koulibaly faced Karim Benzema in the 2017 Champions League

Lampard’s return to the coaching bench has not gone according to plan, losing 1-0 at Wolves on Saturday and things won’t get any easier as Chelsea next visit Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Koulibaly meets in-form France forward Karim Benzema, who has scored 26 goals in all competitions so far, including two hat-tricks in his last three games.

Last season, Benzema broke his fast 15 minutes before kick-off and scored a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge that saw Chelsea eliminated in the same round of the last eight.

Koulibaly said: “I told the newspapers that two or three years ago, he’s the best striker in the world. It’s going to be a tough game but I hope Chelsea win and pass this test.

“That’s our goal but it will be difficult because they won the last Champions League. We believe in ourselves, in our team-mates and in our coach.”

“I’m happy for Benzema, he’s a good example for Muslims that we can do Ramadan, score goals and be productive.

“I hope he keeps scoring, but not on Wednesday.”