Chelsea 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen
So, if this club friendly is a sign of things to come, this SBOTOP writer feels it’s understandable why Chelsea fans could be just starting to get a little excited.
As supporters made their way towards a sunny Stamford Bridge on Friday night, the home faithful were probably wondering whether their team would hand debuts to three of their summer signings.
As it turned out, Willian Estevao, Jamie Gittens and Jorrel Hato (signed from Ajax last week) all sported blue for the very first time, the former from the start, the latter two as substitutes, but there was only one man they were really talking about.
In addition, forwards Joao Pedro and Liam Delap were also given home debuts after impressing at the Club World Cup, the tournament Chelsea triumphed in less than a month ago.
Since then, the players have had three weeks off and returned on Monday, with two friendly matches, two days apart, scheduled before their Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on August 17.
To say Chelsea are playing catch-up is a severe understatement and we should not read too much into this, especially against opponents significantly weakened from last term.
But there were certainly glimpses of what could be expected over the next nine months.
With the friendly 2025 betting odds stacked in their favour, it didn’t take long for the west Londoners to break the deadlock.
Just after the quarter of an hour mark in fact as their new ‘boy wonder’ struck.
Estevao and Gittens were both involved in Palmeiras and Borussia Dortmund’s Club World Cup campaigns – the former even played and scored against Chelsea – and he wasted no time in notching his first goal for his new employer too, pouncing from close range following an attempt by Cole Palmer that rebounded off the bar.
It was a composed finish from the teenager who showed promising signs of a link-up with Palmer in a cameo full of friendly 2025 highlights.
Depleted Leverkusen were second best throughout, even if in Erik ten Hag, they have a new manager with an uncanny ability to win trophies and seems an astute replacement for Xabi Alonso.
Their threat was on display on occasion though and it took a fine save from Filip Jorgensen, flinging himself across his line to keep out an Alex Grimaldo free-kick, to keep the scores level.
Changes galore followed, including Gittens, fresh from the Bundesliga on his 21st birthday, but it took another substitute to finally seal the win in stoppage time.
Moments after Victor Boniface went close to an equaliser with a shot from distance which dropped narrowly wide, Chelsea’s most expensive signing of the summer scored on his first home appearance for his new club – Pedro finding the corner with a drilled low shot.
Chelsea were given a £27 million fine last month by UEFA for breaking financial rules – but few would argue against them having the deepest squad in the league and one of Enzo Maresca’s biggest challenges will be maintaining harmony and continuity, on and off the pitch.
The boy from Brazil has certainly got their fans begging for more.
With pre-season all but over, now is the time the time to start accurately judging Chelsea under the Italian to see just how good, or otherwise, they really are.
They have the tools but can they deliver when it really matters?
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