Last time Chelsea played Valencia in the Champions League, things were a lot different for Frank Lampard.
Not only was he still a player at the club, but he was out of the team and not happy with his manager.
Chelsea needed to beat Valencia on the final match day of the 2011/12 Champions League group stages to qualify for the last 16, yet Lampard was left on the bench for the duration of the match.
Luckily for him goals from Didier Drogba and Ramires saw the job through and just over five months later the Blues went on to win their first ever European Cup.
Lampard felt mistreated at times under Andre Villas-Boas and found himself on the bench on more than one occasion as the former Porto boss struggled to gain a foothold on the dressing room.
The Portuguese manager did not have the best relationship with the likes of Lampard, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole in comparison to Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho.
According to The Athletic, Lampard once held a 40-minute phone call with an unnamed source to discuss their mutual dislike for Villas-Boas.
Lampard was dropped again for the 3-1 defeat against Napoli in Italy and later that week the midfielder shed light on his relationship with the manager.
“I think, from the outside, you can probably see that it’s not been ideal but the important thing is not to focus on individual relationships too much,” he said.
“It can only be negative and people do like to play on negatives.
“There have been certain issues. Certain players, we don’t like not to play.
“But it’s never a case of players throwing their toys out of the pram to the detriment of the club.”
Villas-Boas was sacked shortly after and Roberto Di Matteo came in to secure the Champions League and FA Cup in what turned out to be arguably the most memorable season in the club’s history.
Now Lampard will take charge of the club’s first Champions League game since 2018 when they were knocked out by Barcelona in the 2017/18 season.
Valencia have troubles of their own this time around after manager Marcelino was sacked and replaced by Albert Celades.