Even though Cole Palmer put up an impressive performance in his Champions League debut, Chelsea lost the UEFA Champions League group-stage match against Bayern Munich by 3-1.
The Blues were off to a bad start at the Allianz Arena, going two goals down in less than half an hour after Trevoh Chalobah’s own goal and a Harry Kane penalty were the two goals. Only two minutes later, Palmer reacted immediately with a great shot, thus becoming the first Englishman to score on his Champions League debut for Chelsea. Besides that, he also had a goal disallowed for offside on his 100th appearance for the club.
Nonetheless, Bayern regained control after the 60th minute with Kane scoring his second goal to wrap up the win. Palmer, who completed all his passes in the final third and created two chances, expressed the feeling of missed opportunities but argued that Chelsea “deserved better.”
Palmer is now directly involved in 73 goals since joining Chelsea in 2023, with only Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland having higher combined totals of Premier League players.
Enzo Maresca gave out as many as eight Champions League debuts, thus Chelsea’s youngest European starting XI in years. The Italian coach greatly praised the effort but conceded that the team must learn to keep the same intensity for the whole 90 minutes.
