AfriPulse
Cole Palmer insists Chelsea are not in the Champions League just to gain experience, despite falling 3-1 to Bayern Munich in their league-phase opener at the Allianz Arena.
It was Chelsea’s first game in the competition since April 2023, and while they showed flashes of promise, the gulf in experience was clear against a Bayern side who know how to punish mistakes.
After the game on Wednesday night, September 16, Palmer was quick to stress that Chelsea are not lowering their ambitions.
“We are not coming here for it to be a learning curve,” he said. “We have shown tonight we want to compete and we want to do as best as we can.”
Head coach Enzo Maresca admitted he was disappointed with the defensive lapses that handed Bayern their goals but believes his young team can use the setback to grow.
“I think the players were already aware of this competition, of the difficulties,” he said. “You cannot commit mistakes in the way we have done, but I just said to the players, it’s a game that we can learn a lot from, and build something special from this defeat.”
Chelsea had chances to take control early on, with Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez both missing openings. Instead, Trevoh Chalobah’s own goal from Michael Olise’s cross put Bayern ahead. Moises Caicedo then fouled Harry Kane inside the box, and the England captain converted the penalty.
Palmer briefly lifted Chelsea’s hopes with a tidy finish, but Malo Gusto’s error late in the second half gifted possession to Kane, who made no mistake in front of goal.
Bayern, who have now won the opening game of their last 22 Champions League campaigns, showed exactly why experience matters on nights like this.
Former Chelsea forward Pat Nevin said the result came as no surprise.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, he explained: “It was the kind of performance that I expected from Chelsea. A lot of people were saying beforehand that they were going to break into this competition, they are Club World Cup champions and all of that, but I was thinking, ‘steady on’.
“The jump you need to do to come to places like this is quite big and several players just don’t have that experience yet. They weren’t able to do it as a group today.”
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