Thiago Silva has paid tribute to former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard after the London side beat Manchester City to claim their second Champions League title.
The blues gave a superb performance to nullify the Premier League champions in Porto in Saturday’s final, with Kai Havertz’s first-half goal securing a 1-0 win.
Although Thomas Tuchel received all the plaudits for his brilliant tactical plan, Chelsea would not have made it to the Champions League final without Lampard having first guided the club out of the group stage.
Although, the blues legend would be sacked a month later, unbeaten Chelsea topped Group E with 14 points, edging out Sevilla.
Lampard also played a key role in convincing then free agent Thiago Silva – who limped out of the final in the first half – to move to Chelsea last summer, and the defender was keen to praise his old manager after Saturday’s victory.
‘Without Lampard, I would not be here,’ the former PSG skipper told RMC Sport. ‘I am very happy, and I hope he will be too.’
On the magnitude of the victory over Man City, Silva added: ‘This is the most important moment in my career. ‘I am truly very happy. We didn’t manage it with PSG [in last season’s final against Bayern Munich] but today I am very happy. I hope PSG do it too.
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‘Each time PSG were knocked out, it was made out to be my fault. It’s a shame. I did everything I could for the team.’
Silva appeared to pull his hamstring in the first half of the final in Porto and had to be replaced with Andreas Christensen, who gave an excellent display in the veteran’s absence.
The 37-year-old only signed a one-year contract when he moved to Chelsea last summer, but is on the verge of signing an extension that will keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2022.
