FRANK LAMPARD struck the blow that helped put Chelsea through to the semi-finals of the Champions League last night with his 24th goal in 85 European appearances for Chelsea, and the fourth of them to come from the penalty spot.

Perhaps more than any of his team-mates, the veteran midfielder represents the psychological change undergone by the team in the month since Roman Abramovich bowed to the wishes of the senior members of the squad and gave Andre Villas-Boas his walking papers.

Crucially, it seems, being left out of the starting line-up by Roberto Di Matteo is not the same as being dropped by Villas-Boas, something Lampard made plain in the build-up to last night’s match. The midfielder had chafed when left on the bench by the Portuguese manager for the first leg against Napoli in February but, having been recalled by Di Matteo for the return match, he reacted with complete equanimity to a place among the substitutes in Lisbon last week.

“It’s fair to say Roberto explained to me exactly why I wasn’t starting,” the midfielder said. “I respected his decision.” He had never expected to start every match, he said.

Lampard spoke of how the Italian’s coaching philosophy had concentrated on going back to “simple things that we can all understand”, which suggests Villas-Boas’s regime concentrated too much on an over-elaborate playbook. As the midfielder Ramires noted on the eve of the match, Di Matteo appears to have given the players an injection of self-confidence. “It’s difficult to explain the change in our fortunes,” the Brazilian said, “but we’ve begun to realise we are a great team with great players.”

If Di Matteo has reawakened Lampard’s enthusiasm, he has also succeeding in giving a boost to the Chelsea careers of other players, including Fernando Torres, Salomon Kalou, Mikel John Obi and David Luiz, all of whom have been heavily criticised or even written off this season. The Italian caretaker has made them fixed points in his team, and so far has reaped the rewards.

Torres appeared again in his new role as provider and distributor from the centre-forward position, a kind of Emile Heskey without aerial presence. Although injuries seem to have taken the edge off his speed and dulled the confidence in his finishing, he retains a useful football brain and is more than capable, as he showed last night, of using possession around the edge of the penalty area to the benefit of others. It is not the same as scoring 25 or 30 goals a season, and the Torres of three or four years ago would have put a good chance away early in the second half rather than allowing Emerson to deflect his shot for a corner.

The hero of the first leg was Kalou, who has started six of Di Matteo’s eight games in charge, looking equally refreshed by the change at the top and revelling in the responsibility he never quite seems to enjoy when deferring to his compatriot Didier Drogba.

As for Mikel, the Nigerian will never be the perfect replacement for Claude Makelele, and he was berated by John Terry in the opening stages for failing to maintain the shield in front of the back four as Pablo Aimar’s shot sailed over the bar, but it was Mikel’s ankle that felt the impact of Maxi Pereira’s studs as the right-back committed the offence which reduced Benfica to 10 men five minutes before the interval.

The player with the most to offer Chelsea in the long term may turn out to be David Luiz. Viewed as something of a joke for most of his first year at Stamford Bridge, the Brazilian is emerging as a player who may well form a useful combination with Gary Cahill, reproducing the partnership Jose Mourinho created when he paired Terry with Ricardo Carvalho.

Luiz still makes the occasional mistake while taking risks no Englishman in his position would contemplate, but he also offers the sort of dynamism and imagination that can make a merely good side – which is what Chelsea are at the moment – into something better.

Guardian Service

SEMI-FINAL LINE-UP 

BAYERN MUNICH v REAL MADRID

First leg, April 17th, second leg April 25th

CHELSEA v BARCELONA

First leg, AprIL 18th, second leg, AprIL 24th.