In this weekly series we look at three points of interest across the Club
UEFA Youth League Returns
Chelsea returned to European competition with an entertaining game against Bayern U19s in the UEFA Youth League.
The young Blues took the lead early on, with Antwi overlapping Cardoso and slotting past Prescott. Bernal made a great flying save before failing to claim a corner, which went straight in. Chavez then jinxed between a couple of players and fired one into the bottom corner from outside the box. 2-1 down at the break despite leading early on.
Within two minutes our two best players so far this season combined for the equalizer; Kavuma-McQueen whipping in a cross and Mhueka showing great strength and movement in the box to poke it home at the near post.
The best of the bunch was saved for last by an unlikely source: Harrison Murray Campbell. The center back showed excellent technique to rifle a bouncing ball into the far corner; an early contender for Goal of the Season?
Seniors Stumble in South-East Germany
Another high-scoring European game played out at the Allianz Arena, the site of our famous 2012 Champions League win. This time however Chelsea were on the losing side.
Despite a strong start the Germans opened the scoring through a Trevoh Chalobah own goal. There’s not too much more the defender could have done, with the ball going past Cucurella and Tosin along the six yard box. Kane doubled their lead from the penalty spot after Caicedo brought the Englishman down.
Who else but Cole Palmer managed to get us back into the game with a good strike after a one-two with Gusto. The Frenchman had a very good game but was unfortunately involved in a mix-up for Bayern’s third, which essentially killed the game. Palmer once again had the ball in the net late on, but it was ruled offside.
The scoreline makes it seem as if Chelsea were completely outmatched, but the Blues held their own for long periods of the game, with Bayern being more clinical in attacking areas. Considering the starting XI included 5 Champions League debutants, it was a decent showing. It does perhaps show that our squad has been built with a lack of experience however, despite spending over 1.5 billion. This is the strategy, and it may yet pay off. There’s plenty more games to come this year, and hopefully in subsequent years.
U18s Continue Strong Start
We’re getting to that point in the season where certain players are starting to stand out, especially at youth level.
The U18s put on a good show against Brighton, winning 4-0. Chizzy Ezenwata has already been mentioned in previous articles, and is already producing week in and week out. Mathis Eboue is another joining him in the spotlight at this age group. The pair combined for the second and third goals this week; Eboue winning a penalty with Chizzy converting with a very cool panenka, and then roles reversed late on in open play.
Chizzy currently has four goals and an assist, while Eboue has two goals and won the penalty against Brighton. Other players to look out for, who will play consistently at this age group, are Freddy Bernal (goalkeeper), Calvin Diakite (center back), Harry McGlinchey (left back), Sol Gordon (attacking midfield), Kobe Barbour (right winger). Others may be more likely to float between U16, U18 and U21.
Hassan Sulaiman’s side are unbeaten so far, sitting in third place with three wins and one draw. They have played a game less than Arsenal and Crystal Palace who currently reside above them.
The Chelsea Spot 
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