Mykhailo Mudryk returns for Chelsea who slip to Juventus defeat
· Yahoo Sports
Mykhailo Mudryk made his first Chelsea appearance since November 2024 as Xabi Alonso’s team succumbed to their second pre-season defeat.
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Mudryk replaced Nicolas Jackson in the 82nd minute against Juventus, marking his return to competitive football after a long doping ban that was resolved this week thanks to changes in Wada regulations.
There were a couple of crosses delivered from the left flank by the Ukrainian winger, who could yet leave Chelsea on loan or on a permanent basis before the close of the transfer window.
Juventus were the victors though, thanks to a sumptuous 68th-minute goal by Kosovo winger Edon Zhegrova.
Alonso had 21 players on his bench, and made 12 second-half substitutions.
Levi Colwill and Cole Palmer featured in the defeat by 10-man Spurs on Saturday, but sat this game out as they continue to build fitness. Danny Welbeck did start though, reunited with former Brighton team-mate Joao Pedro up top.
Chelsea scored just one goal against Spurs and Juventus, but the thrust provided by right-back Marco Palestra in tandem with first Geovany Quenda and then Estevao was a bright spot for Alonso.
Chelsea continue their pre-season against AC Milan on Saturday, before they host Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge on August 15.
They begin their Premier League campaign at Fulham in the Monday night slot on the opening weekend.
02:28pmFT: Chelsea 0 Juventus 1
Even Chelsea’s in-house streaming had given up the ghost by the end. Consecutive pre-season defeats for Chelsea, but worth remembering that Colwill and Palmer sat out this fitness exercise and Enzo Fernandez is still to return. Palestra’s performances a real positive but the team is still finding its way.
02:24pm92 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 1
Juventus win a corner late on, but Yildiz’s delivery is too close to Penders. Just two minutes for Chelsea to find an equaliser.
02:21pm90 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 1
Mudryk does well to dig out a cross from the left but the goalkeeper Perin gathers. There will be four minutes of added time to play.
02:20pm88 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 1
Chelsea not really threatening an equaliser as the game meanders towards a conclusion. Should they score a goal, we will have a penalty shoot-out.
02:16pm85 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 1
Estevao looked for Mudryk with a reverse pass between full-back and centre-back but there was too much weight on the ball.
02:14pm82 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 1
Estevao’s free-kick is saved but the bigger news for Chelsea fans is that Mykhailo Mudryk has been introduced from the bench, replacing Nicolas Jackson for the closing stages.
02:13pm80 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 1
Lavia and Liam Delap involved in some handbags with the Juventus players, Bremer the centre-back in the thick of things too and has been shown a yellow card. Chelsea have a free-kick, Estevao over it from 35 yards out.
02:10pm77 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 1
Just the one goal scored for Chelsea against top level opponents in pre-season, but I doubt Alonso will be panicking just yet. Chelsea play Milan this weekend before hosting Real Sociedad on August 15th in their final pre season friendly.
02:06pm75 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 1
Juventus goalkeeper Perin sells Nicolas Jackson a dummy so he can pick a pass into midfield. The Italian side controlling the game quite well since the goal, against a weaker Chelsea team.
02:02pm70 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 1
Chelsea’s younger players will have to dig them out of trouble in the last 20 minutes. There has not been much in the game, Chelsea have shaded it in general play without quite creating enough.
02:00pmGOOOALL! Zhegrova with a lovely finish
The Kosovan winger with a first-time, left-footed hit from almost 25 yards, curled into the top corner. Nothing Penders could do about it.
Edon Zhegrova celebrates his goal - Getty Images/Christopher Wong01:58pm66 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
More changes from Chelsea: Anselmino, Acheampong, Satpaev, Assugo and Delap the players on, replacing Hato, Palestra, Gittens, Caicedo and Pedro. Alonso finishing the team with his younger players on the pitch.
01:56pm64 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Jonathan David slides a pass across the Chelsea six-yard box when there was a chance to shoot, but the flag was up for offside in any case.
01:53pm61 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Penders does well to palm away an inswinging cross from Zhegrova, before Estevao picks out the run of Palestra on the break with a brilliant forward pass. Chelsea corner, cleared. Now Caicedo has been booked for a cynical challenge to stop a break, much like Douglas Luiz.
01:51pm58 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Nicolas Jackson hacked down by Douglas Luiz after he turned on halfway with three or four Chelsea runners in support. Painful one for Jackson, and a yellow card for the former Aston Villa midfielder. Chelsea players not happy with that challenge in a pre-season game.
01:47pm55 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Chelsea certainly have the upper hand in the game, quick feet from Joao Pedro to win a free-kick in midfield. If either team is going to score the game’s first goal, you fancy it will be them.
01:43pm50 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
This time Chelsea find Palestra with a ball over the top, but his shot at goal is at a comfortable height for the goalkeeper.
01:42pm48 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Palestra popping up in a centre-forward position again, but his shot towards goal is not struck cleanly. The right-back at the heart of Chelsea’s attacking again.
01:39pmWe are back under way
Two very different XIs out there for the second half.
01:39pmHalf-time Chelsea changes
Penders replaces Sanchez in goal, Sarr on for Tosin, Estevao on for Quenda and Jackson on for Welbeck.
For Juventus: Bremer, Perin, Zhegrova, Owusu and David are on.
01:19pmHT: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Not much to write/phone/WhatsApp home about, so far. The combination between Quenda and Palestra down Chelsea’s right has been the best feature of their football, am sure we will see Estevao on that flank in the second half among other changes. The bumpy pitch and a hydration break has not helped the spectacle.
Danny Welbeck was reunited with Joao Pedro - Darren Walsh/Getty Images01:16pm45 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
There will be four minutes of stoppage time, simply a result of the hydration break.
01:14pm43 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Far too much space opens up between Chelsea’s defence and midfield, with Meritti turning and carrying the ball forward. Boga tests Sanchez with a strike from the edge of the box. That was probably Juventus’s most threatening attack.
01:12pm40 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Palestra defends well as the last man up against Milik, Chelsea almost undone by Locatelli’s outside of the foot pass.
01:08pm37 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Robert Sanchez caught under a cross swung to the back post, very unconvincing goalkeeping, but Juventus could not get their shot away in the box. Nicoll-Jazuli then did well to bring the ball away for Chelsea at the edge of the box.
01:05pm34 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Chelsea have another corner, and yet again it comes from a right-sided attack. Chelsea are in ascendancy now after a slow start, but it is a very low intensity contest.
01:00pm30 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Caicedo with a couple of threatening crosses from a centre-right position, but no Chelsea player can connect with them cleanly. Gittens’s dribbling down the left causing problems for Cambiaso, and he was the one attacking Caicedo’s cross at the back post.
12:58pm28 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Play has now resumed after the drinks break. No changes from either team, those will come at half time. Chelsea have 21 players sitting on their bench, albeit a number of academy players are on tour.
12:54pm23 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Time for a hydration break, even though the game is being played under a closed roof.
12:53pm21 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Chelsea’s right side is their most dangerous, by a distance. Quenda does well to slip Palestra in on the overlap, and his low cross into the six-yard box is cleared for a corner. Juventus clear. Boga with a burst through the Chelsea midfield but the Juventus man then gets his pass wrong.
12:51pm19 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Kelly with a left-to-right switch to Cambiaso, and his cross deflects off the toe of Miretti in the middle and trickles just wide of the far post. Sanchez was scrambling but I think the goalkeeper had it covered.
12:47pm16 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Chelsea enjoying their most sustained spell of possession in Juventus’s half so far, without quite carving out a clear cut chance. Juventus defending their penalty area with a back five, but they do not have Bonucci, Chiellini and Barzagli back there anymore.
12:43pm13 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Quenda with a threatening inswinging cross from the right flank, but Welbeck could not quite rise high enough to direct his header towards the far corner. Quenda was keeping the width for Chelsea with Palestra inside the winger in the box. Quenda then slices a shot over from long range.
12:41pm11 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Welbeck and Caicedo involved in some good combination play, with Nicoll-Jazuli’s outside of the foot pass finding Gittens. Chelsea’s left-winger runs into traffic, but he has been one of the bright spots of the pre-season campaign thus far.
12:39pm8 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Having watched a couple of Chelsea’s friendlies, there is a lot to like about Palestra at right-back. Tall, long stride, lots of composure on the ball. Will be interesting to see if they can find a way for him and Reece James to start games. Chelsea as a team yet to find much rhythm in the game so far.
12:37pm6 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Tosin could well find himself down the pecking order this season among Chelsea’s raft of centre-backs, but he makes an important block in the area before Locatelli drags a shot wide from the edge of the box.
12:34pm4 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Former Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly is in the Juventus team. The Italian team are looking to press high in the early minutes whenever Chelsea try to play out from the back. Quenda with an early dart at the Juventus defence but he gets the pass all wrong with Palestra overlapping.
12:32pm2 minutes: Chelsea 0 Juventus 0
Palestra with a loose first touch but he recovers and defends well. Like in Sydney, this looks another very bumpy pitch, you can see the join marks between the pieces of turf that have been freshly laid. Coming out of these games without any injuries will be a priority for Alonso.
12:30pmKICK OFF!
Juventus get the game started in their pale pink away kit.
Chelsea’s team is a mixture of youngsters and established players - Darren Walsh/Getty Images12:26pmJuventus team news
Juventus XI: Di Gregorio, Kalulu, Gatti, Kelly, Cambiaso, Douglas Luiz, Locatelli, Miretti, Boga, Milik, Celik
Subs: Perrin, Pinsoglio, Nava, Bremmer, Rugani, Koopmeiners, Arthur Melo, Cabal, Owusu, Gil Puche, Oboavwoduo, Licina, Durmisi, Yildiz, Zhegrova, David
12:15pmChelsea’s Dad’s Army
Welbeck starts against Juventus, but no Jordan Henderson with the group just yet. As Sam Dean writes here: “Last season, especially, provided evidence that the balance of their squad was not right, and they are now trying to change the internal dynamic by adding more leadership and experience to the team.”
11:56amMudryk is on Chelsea’s bench
How long will he stay there? Will he play his way back into Alonso’s team, be shipped out on loan or sold for a fee? Sam Dean assesses the options for player and club in this piece. Out of sight, out of mind could well be the most likely outcome for a player who has missed almost two years of football, and looked extremely raw before his ban.
11:42amChelsea team news
Looks like a back four once again for Alonso, and Danny Welbeck makes his first Chelsea appearance. Pedro will play off Welbeck as a second striker. Geovany Quenda was signed last year from Sporting CP, but joined up with Chelsea this summer. Another wide forward in their collection.
Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Palestra, Fofana, Tosin, Hato; Caicedo, Nicoll-Jazuli; Quenda, Joao Pedro, Gittens; Welbeck
Chelsea subs: Penders, Sharman-Lowe, Curd, Slonina, Acheampong, Subuloye, Sarr, Diakite, Anselmino, Lavia, Essugo, Watson, Walsh, Kellyman, Mudryk, Estevao Willian, Kavuma-McQueen, Neto, Satpayev, Jackson, Delap
11:38amChelsea returning to full strength with arrival of left-back expected
The wheels of commerce continue to turn for Chelsea in the transfer market but this afternoon Xabi Alonso’s team continue their preparations for the new season against Juventus in Hong Kong.
They have the chance to recover from the ignominy of losing to 10-man Tottenham Hotspur in Sydney on Saturday, but with 19 days until Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Fulham these matches are still a fitness building exercise. The positive from the Spurs game was Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, Cole Palmer completing 80 minutes – three players who endured injury problems last season.
Another new arrival is expected to follow Morgan Rogers, Marco Palesta, Maxence Lacroix, Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck to Stamford Bridge, with the club nearing a deal for Rayo Vallecano left-back Pep Chavarria.
It wouldn’t be Chelsea without talk of some eye-catching outgoings, with Spurs reportedly interested in Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Maresca eyeing a reunion with Pedro Neto at Manchester City.
Alonso’s team promise to be flexible in their tactical approach this season, but so far he has set up with a back four rather than the 3-4-2-1 system he used to such great effect at Bayer Leverkusen. That could change as availability increases closer to the start of the season, but Palestra’s bursts forward from right-back in tandem with Estevao have caught the eye.
Juventus finished sixth in Serie A last season under Luciano Spalletti, the former Roma and Napoli coach who usually guarantees expansive and attractive football. Turkey left-winger Kenan Yildiz was their top goalscorer last season, and it looks like they will make it through the summer without the left-winger being picked off by one of the Premier League’s elite. Yildiz scored 11 goals in all competitions, and Dusan Vlahovic was the only other player to reach double figures so scoring goals is a problem to address. Lois Openda and Randal Kolo Muani have been signed this summer to strengthen the forward line.
Team news on the way shortly.
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