Cole Palmer says Chelsea do not see this season’s Champions League campaign as a “learning curve” – because they want to be competitive in it straight away.
Enzo Maresca’s side were second-best as they lost 3-1 to a more experienced Bayern Munich side at Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
It was Chelsea’s first appearance in the Champions League since April 2023 – and the match suggested a young team will need to reflect on what it takes to succeed at that level.
But head coach Maresca suggested his side can take plenty from the defeat and “build something special” – while forward Palmer has dismissed the idea that they can’t do that quickly.
“We are not coming here for it to be a learning curve,” the England international said.
“We have shown tonight we want to compete and we want to do as best as we can.”
Chelsea won the Club World Cup in July, beating Paris St-Germain in New Jersey, having won the Conference League two months earlier, but their former forward Pat Nevin always felt the Champions League was going to be a greater test.
“It was the kind of performance that I expected from Chelsea,” Nevin said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “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 a number of players just don’t have that experience yet. They weren’t able to do it as a group today.”
Chelsea acknowledge weaknesses
Maresca may have been broadly pleased with his team’s performance, but accepted they lacked “full focus for the full 95 minutes”.
He added: “I think the players were already aware of this competition, of the difficulties.
“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 played well, especially early on when Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez missed good chances, but mistakes cost them.
They switched off at a drop-ball, leaving Bayern winger Michael Olise free to deliver a cross that Trevoh Chalobah turned into his own net. Then midfielder Moises Caicedo brought down Harry Kane to concede a penalty – which the England captain converted.
After Palmer had pulled a goal back, Kane sealed victory in the second half when defender Malo Gusto gave away the ball.
They were all defensive lapses against ruthless opposition. Bayern – a team who have won their first match in each of their past 22 Champions League campaigns – know the ropes at this level, in a way the current Chelsea side do not.
Can Chelsea overcome their naivety?
Nevin added on 5 Live: “It wasn’t quite men against boys, but Bayern Munich were certainly a good distance ahead of Chelsea here.
“The mistakes Chelsea made were quite naive and they were caught out, not just for the goals, but for a whole raft of chances aside from that. That’s what happens with young players playing in this competition, but they will learn from that.
“This level is elite. It is a jump. And that jump may take them a little while.”
Inexperience may well have been an issue: In Munich, Chelsea fielded their third-youngest ever Champions League team.
Their entire 24-man squad went into Wednesday’s match with just 117 appearances in the competition between them. By contrast, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, 39, has played 151 times in the Champions League for Bayern Munich alone.
His team-mates Kane, Joshua Kimmich and Serge Gnabry have substantial experience at this level. By contrast, Chelsea pair Caicedo and Joao Pedro were making their debuts in the competition despite being among the team’s star names.
They were among eight Blues players, the most for a single match in Chelsea’s history in the competition, making their Champions League debuts.
Even head coach Maresca, part of Pep Guardiola’s staff during Manchester City’s 2023 Treble-winning campaign, may need to step up to this level.
It felt as if a third Bayern goal was coming for a few minutes before Kane scored it – but Maresca seemed slow to react, and only made changes after his team had gone 3-1 down.
It was too little, all too late.
