Cole Palmer pointed the blame at his Chelsea teammates for lacking concentration and not “managing moments correct” during Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat against Bayern Munich.
Enzo Maresca’s side were beaten at the Allianz Arena in their first Champions League game for almost two-and-a-half years, as Trevoh Chalobah’s own goal and a brace from Harry Kane helped Bayern run out deserved winners.
Chelsea talisman Palmer scored his side’s only goal in the first half, as he finished off a neat move, playing a one-two with Malo Gusto before sweeping the ball beyond Manuel Neuer. However, Palmer’s strike – his second in four days after finding the net in the 2-2 draw at Brentford on Saturday – didn’t impact the end result.
After the game, Palmer outlined where it went wrong for the Blues in a spiky post-match interview. The England international highlighted his side’s lack of concentration and inability to manage the key moments well.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Palmer said: “Yeah [frustrating]. We deserved more. We started well, had early chances but when you make mistakes at the highest level it’s difficult.
“There was a lack of concentration, not managing the moments correct.
“We showed we can play against one of the best teams in the competition. We deserved more to be honest. The manager said to us before we can go toe-to-toe.
“It’s a good learning curve and to be back in the competition is nice. I don’t even know [what happened in the second half]. We’re not coming here to be a learning curve. We showed we want to compete.”
Palmer himself was back to his best for the Blues. He thought he had scored a second late on, poking the ball past Neuer after a brilliant pass from Andrey Santos, but VAR ruled it out for an offside in the build-up.
He was a bright spark in a mixed performance from the Blues, who played some intricate passing football and looked threatening at times, but didn’t trouble Neuer on too many occasions.
Delivering his assessment on Chelsea’s display as a whole, Maresca said post-match: “I think overall the performance was quite good. We started very well for 20 minutes, creating chances.
“When we conceded the goal, we can avoid that kind of goal. We were in the game and scored.”
Chelsea are next in action when they travel to Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday. The Blues then make the trip to Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup before heading home to face Brighton.
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