Kepa Arrizabalaga says the Chelsea team need to deliver at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night where they will welcome current champions, Real Madrid.
The London team prepare to face the European champions following their damaging 2-0 loss last week. Goals from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio saw Chelsea fall two behind in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
While the Blues dominated at the start of the game, they soon fell behind, with Benzema scoring the opening goal in the 21st minute.
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A tough task
The Chelsea goalkeeper spoke on the size of the game tomorrow and the challenge it will hold.
"Tomorrow is a big game – Champions League quarter-finals – it's not going to be easy."
"We need to deliver our best and do the right steps. We can not overthink. We have to defend and attack well." The Spaniard spoke on how Chelsea is going to face the tough task.
"It's [the match tomorrow] a big part of the season looking forward." He truthfully discoursed on the importance of their performance and the result tomorrow.
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Redemption
Kepa saw himself sidelined on the bench in previous seasons when teammate, Edouard Mendy, arrived at Chelsea and become first choice goalkeeper. However, this season has been a redemption era for Kepa as his position in the starting 11 was regained, even captaining the side on occasions.
“I think it's a very positive season for me personally. The last two seasons I played 15 games per season, now I am playing more. I’m feeling well, I am feeling confident. I am enjoying [being] on the pitch.”
“Obviously, the season in general is not the best one, but personally I think I am happy with my season”
The 28 year-old reflected on the performance last week and what is needed tomorrow to provide the comeback for them to go through to the semi-finals.
“We need a better performance than we had at the Bernabeu, we need to control better, we need to create more chances, we need to score goals. We need to be more clinical in both areas. That’s going to be key."
The season has been turmoil for the London team with the Blues currently playing under their fourth manager of the season and in the bottom half of the table.
Tomorrow will be Chelsea legend, Frank Lampard's, fourth game as manager of the club once again. Kepa defended Lampard when asked about previously being benched when the ex-player was manager last time.
“That was three years ago. That's a different situation, everything is different, now I am playing. Frank [Lampard] came here again, he is taking his decisions every game. When he picks me to be in the starting 11, I am trying to give my best”.
Last summer saw players such as Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Timo Werner exit the Blues' side, however, the team are not short of players. Debate has circulated over the chemistry being built amongst the large amount of players.
“It is true that we have a lot of players, maybe more than usually in the team, but I think it [chemistry in the squad] is not a question for me."
"In the changing room, obviously we are not happy, but the atmosphere is good. It's not fighting or anything like that. We are trying to find a way to win the games. It is true that we have had a lot of change, but we are the first ones to know that and we want to change the situation.” He assures that chemistry and atmosphere amongst the players is not a concern for their current form.
The Spanish goalkeeper is often heavily criticised by Chelsea fans with some doubting his position as first choice goalkeeper for the side.
"The fans can have different opinions, like one player more than another one, what I can do is deliver my best work everyday, try to perform in the best way and help the team - this is what I have been doing in the last five years and what I am doing is trying to do my best for Chelsea to win games and win trophies." He spoke when asked about still having to convince the fans about deserving his spot in the starting 11.
Chelsea saw a phenomenal recovery against Dortmund in the knockout stages as they went into the home leg 1-0 down but brought it back with two goals seeing them get through to the quarter-finals. The atmosphere at Stamford Bridge was credited for the team's push to get through.
"Hopefully tomorrow we can involve all the fans at Stamford Bridge, deliver our best, and make this a different atmosphere that we need to go through. It's not going to be easy but, as I said before, we have to go step by step and do the right things from the beginning and push as much as we can." Arrizabalaga acknowledged the power that the fans have on uplifting the team to push tomorrow.
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Lacking confidence
Lacking confidence is often what people put poor performances to, but the Chelsea player was not so sure on if that is the case for his side.
“I don't know [about] lacking confidence, we are not in our best shape, we are 11th in the league and that's not a good season for us."
"We have to believe until the end because in this stadium, Remontadas can happen, and have happened before. We have to believe it will happen tomorrow. We need a big performance, not the performance of our lives maybe, but a big performance”
Last season witnessed Chelsea make a comeback at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid as they went into the game after a sour 3-1 loss at home. The away leg saw goals from Mason Mount, Rudiger and Werner, but a devastating late goal from Benzema in the 96th minute saw the champions of Europe at the time ultimately still exit the competition.
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'I am very happy to be here'
Kepa came to the club 5 years ago in 2018 for a record breaking deal for a goalkeeper of £71.6 million. He spoke about what the club means to him after a long journey of ups and downs with the club.
“It's my home for 5 years now. I am very happy to be here, of course, I am enjoying this journey that I have had in the last few years”.
Kepa and his Chelsea side will take on Real Madrid and attempt to overturn their two-goal deficit tomorrow evening, with the game at Stamford Bridge scheduled to kick-off at 20:00 BST.