Lampard hails Champions League crown

Chelsea veteran Frank Lampard believes last season's Champions League success prevented wholesale changes at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues struggled in the first half of the 2011/2012 campaign under previous boss Andre Villas-Boas but landed both the FA Cup and Champions League titles under current manager Roberto Di Matteo. If Chelsea had missed out in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich they would also have failed to qualify for this season's competition and Lampard feels there may have been huge changes at the club had the failed to land the title. "If we had gone out of the Champions League, God knows what would have happened. Looking back, there probably would have been wholesale changes," he told The Times. "That's the beauty of winning the Champions League. We remain in the Champions League and can look at spicing things up with new players. "I didn't really think at the time that that was the end, but looking back, it probably would have been the break-up of that team."