Chelsea star Cole Palmer has revealed that the Champions League is not a learning curve for the team, vowing that they want to compete 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.”
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.
