MUNICH, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 17: Reece James of Chelsea FC in actionr caption here>> during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD1 match between FC Bayern München and Chelsea FC at Football Arena Munich on September 17, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Danilo Di Giovanni/Getty Images)
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It’s strange to say it, but Chelsea opened the Champions League campaign as ‘technically’ the best team on the planet, thanks to the new expanded Club World Cup format.
The obvious reality is that the Blues are far from being England’s top club, let alone Europe’s.
And faced with the daunting prospect of beating Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena, it was clear that, while Paris Saint-Germain might have been overcome at the Club World Cup, this Chelsea side still has some way to go.
Manager Enzo Maresca admitted as much in the aftermath of the 3-1 defeat, stating that the team lacked “full focus for the full 95 minutes.”
“I think the players were already aware of this competition, of the difficulties,” he added.
“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.”
“Overall, the performance was quite good. We started well for 20 minutes and created two or three chances. When we conceded a goal, we could have avoided the game changed a bit.
“We were in the game, we scored a goal. The decision [not to send off Jonathan Tah] was tough because it was more a red card than yellow card. Even without that, we started the second half well and created chances.
“Once we conceded the third goal the game, changed again. We conceded a goal that killed the game. We were in the game until the end. With the penalty, the [non] red card and an own goal it becomes difficult.
“We can learn from this game. First of all, this kind of game needs you to play the right way for 95 minutes, not just for part of the game. At times we weren’t good enough.
“It was a good performance. Now it’s time to recover because in two days we have a tough game.”
Star player Cole Palmer had a greater sense of frustration about the inconsistency of the team’s performance.
“We are not coming here for it to be a learning curve,” the Mancunian said postgame.
“We have shown tonight we want to compete and we want to do as best as we can.”
Former Chelsea attacker Pat Nevin told the BBC he anticipated the Blues would be well behind their German opponents.
“It was the kind of performance that I expected from Chelsea,” he 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.”
“It wasn’t quite men against boys, but Bayern Munich were certainly a good distance ahead of Chelsea here.
“The mistakes Chelsea made were quite naive and they were caught out, not just for the goals, but for a whole raft of chances aside from that. That’s what happens with young players playing in this competition, but they will learn from that.
“This level is elite. It is a jump. And that jump may take them a little while.”
MUNICH, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 17: Michael Olise of FC Bayern Munchen in action during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD1 match between FC Bayern München and Chelsea FC at Football Arena Munich on September 17, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Danilo Di Giovanni/Getty Images)
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Inconsistency in soccer is normally connected to experience, it takes time learn how to walk into the home of a European giant and emerge with a result.
This is not a commodity Chelsea has. The team lined up for the Blues with eight players making their Champions League debuts. In fact, the 24-man squad that travelled to Bavaria had played a mere 117 games in the competition.
This weakness is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, given Chelsea’s owners’ policy of always prioritising youth.
Since a couple of disastrous big-money moves for Raheem Sterling and Khalid Koulibaly, Todd Boehly and his ownership consortium have barely signed anyone over 23.
Regarding the strategy, Boehly said it will take time: “The number one thing is you have to be patient.
“You are putting something together and expecting it to come together really quickly, but the reality is anything really good takes a little bit of time.
“We are definitely paying the price for having an inexperienced squad but on the flip side there’s more talent than ever at Chelsea.
“The youth team looks like it could beat some championship sides and some of the players on loan look phenomenal.
“The signings they’ve made in general have been good and they will get better each season.”
It’s a bold idea that, if it comes together in the way he hopes, could really deliver the goods.
His problem is how long that patience needs to last – after years of waiting, what if the team doesn’t blossom into the finished article he’s expecting?
When discussing this challenge, Boehly has insisted that his strategy does not forgo success.
“Winning is clearly the most important thing,” he said.
“We are focused on winning. The second thing is having what we think is a really young and exciting team that will be together for a long time.”
“If you look at franchises that dominate for a long time they have real stability in the team, front office and coaching staff. So to be able to lay the groundwork and start with stability in the team, and having a young squad with longer than average contracts [is a good start].”
Boehly’s issue is that the second part of his winning philosophy, the aim for longevity, is currently compromising the first.