Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca and goalscorer Cole Palmer opted to take the positives despite a 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich on the Blues’ return to the Champions League.
The Conference League and Club World Cup champions were playing their first match in Europe’s elite club competition since 2023, but, unlike in 2012 when they lifted the trophy, this trip to the Allianz Arena for Chelsea was an unhappy one.
A Harry Kane brace and Trevor Chabolah own goal gave the German giants victory but Chelsea troubled their hosts in spells and pulled one back through Palmer’s sublime finish with the score at 2-0.
And despite the result, Maresca insisted he was pleased with his players’ showing.
“Overall I think the performance was quite good. We started very well for the first 20 minutes, creating two or three clear chances,” the Chelsea boss told TNT Sports.
“Then when we concede, we can avoid that kind of goal. The game changed a little bit but we were in the game, we score a goal.
“We started the second-half creating chances, and then after we conceded the third goal, the game changed again.”
When asked what ultimately went wrong for his team in the second-half with the score at 2-1, Maresca said: “Nothing, we just unfortunately conceded one more goal, that killed the game a little bit.
“But even with that I think we were in the game. We try until the end, we scored another goal that was unfortunately offside.
“I think we can learn a lot from this game. In some moments we were not good enough but we can learn many things.
“It’s a reality because the Champions League is this kind of game, especially against Bayern that is one of the favourites. But overall, I think we competed quite well.”
Meanwhile, Palmer echoed his manager’s sentiments and believes the team did enough to show that they can compete with the big-name clubs at this level.
“It was frustrating. I feel like we deserved more,” Palmer said.
“We started well. We had early chances to score. But when you make mistakes at the highest level it’s hard to come back.
“Maybe a lack of concentration, not managing the moments. But I think we showed we can play against one of the best teams in the competition.
“It’s a good learning curve. To be back in the competition is nice. We need to kick on from here.
“We’ve shown we can compete.”
Chelsea are next in action when they travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Saturday.
