UCL 'saved Chelsea from break-up'

The Blues saw off Bayern Munich in May's final to deliver owner Roman Abramovich the one bit of silverware he desperately wanted - a European title.

It signalled a positive end to a season of ups and downs, with manager Andre Villas-Boas making way for Roberto Di Matteo amid rumours of dressing-room unrest and differences with the players - among them Lampard.

And the influential England international admits the Champions League victory helped save the club from a summer of sweeping changes.

"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."

Lampard also insists he has put behind him his rift with Villas-Boas, who is now in charge at Tottenham Hotspur.

"Looking back, we were slightly different personalities," he said.

"What I found hard to handle was not so much the not-playing side, it was the communication - or the not talking about it.

"There are no hard feelings, certainly not from me. We sent messages after he left. I wish him all the best."