Chelsea: Enzo Maresca responds to Cole Palmer injury fears after Bayern loss | OneFootball

Star man played 90 minutes on his full return from a groin injury

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Enzo Maresca has allayed fears over a fresh injury to Cole Palmer after the Chelsea star appeared in pain during the closing stages of the defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Palmer started the Champions League game after recovering from a groin injury, which was his first start since a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace four week ago.

The England star, making his 100th appearance for the Blues, was back to his best in Bavaria, scoring one goal and seeing another narrowly ruled out for offside, but could not prevent his team going down 3-1.

Palmer played the full 90 minutes upon his return and, in the final minutes of the defeat, was spotted hunched over and appeared to be clutching his inner leg while grimacing. The full-time whistle was blown soon after.

Asked for an update on Palmer's fitness after the game, Maresca told reporters: "Cole, I think, is okay. He said he was okay."

Maresca continued: “In terms of experience between them and us, I think there was a huge difference. Because of the games they played, or because of the age, it doesn't matter. But even without, we're sure that we compete in the right way.

“To come to this stage, I've been already in this stage playing Champions League games as assistant manager or as assistant coach. With Sevilla, with [Manchester] City, it's quite difficult to come here and compete.

“Against this team and try to dominate and control the game for 95 minutes, 100 minutes. This is not reality. It's difficult to adapt. So, in the way we compete for part of the game, we were very good. Probably the mistake we did, it's something that we can learn from that. And as I said, I have the feeling that we can build something special from this defeat.”