Chelsea suffered another loss in their pre-season preparations as the Blues were beaten 1-0 by Juventus at the Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong.
Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso's hand was forced with his starting XI as Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill were ruled out of the contest with minor injuries, meaning Joao Pedro was reunited with his former Brighton team-mate Danny Welbeck in attack as the veteran striker made his first appearance since joining the Blues.
Moises Caicedo captained the side whilst accompanying Cobham star Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli in midfield, while Marco Palestra combined with Geovany Quenda on the right flank and Jorrel Hato featured with Jamie Gittens on the left.
It was £40m signing Quenda who caught the eye in the opening exchanges with the Portuguese winger showcasing some excellent touches, and he delivered a sublime cross that Welbeck could only direct wide of the post.
The moment was a rare highlight in an otherwise tedious first half where the pitch made it difficult for either side to showcase their best attributes, and Juventus were certainly not afraid to get stuck into Chelsea.
Alonso made four changes at the interval with the likes of Nicolas Jackson and Mike Penders seeing minutes, and the Spaniard made a further seven changes midway through the second half. But the flurry of changes caught Chelsea cold and Juventus capitalised through Edon Zhegrova, who produced a curling effort from the edge of the box that beat Penders.
Chelsea struggled to fashion any gilt-edged opportunities to swing the match back in their favour, but the closing stages did at least witness the return of Mykhailo Mudryk, who made his first senior appearance since November 2024.
Chelsea v Juventus Match Stats
Chelsea | 0-1 | Juventus |
57% | Possession | 43% |
0.59 | Expected Goals (xG) | 0.64 |
9 | Shots | 9 |
4 | Shots on Target | 2 |
2 | Goalkeeper Saves | 3 |
1 | Big Chances | 1 |
5 | Corners | 1 |
559 | Total Passes | 430 |
87% | Pass Accuracy | 85% |
13 | Successful Tackles | 15 |
13 | Clearances | 26 |
2 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
0 | Red Cards | 0 |
Chelsea v Juventus Timeline
46' - Mike Penders replaced Robert Sanchez, Estevao replaced Geovany Quenda, Nicolas Jackson replaced Danny Welbeck, Mamadou Sarr replaced Tosin Adarabioyo.
58' - Yellow card for Douglas Luiz.
62' - Yellow card for Moises Caicedo.
65' - Dastan Satpaev replaced Jamie Gittens, Josh Acheampong replaced Marco Palestra.
66' - Liam Delap replaced Joao Pedro, Aaron Anselmino replaced Jorrel Hato, Dario Essugo replaced Moises Caicedo, Olutayo Subuloye replaced Wesley Fofana.
67' - Romeo Lavia replaced Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli.
68' - Goal Juventus! Scored by Edon Zhegrova, assisted by Kenan Yildiz.
71' - Yellow card for Federico Gatti.
81' - Yellow card for Bremer.
81' - Yellow card for Romeo Lavia.
82' - Mykhailo Mudryk replaced Nicolas Jackson.
