Three things we learned from Chelsea loss as Xabi Alonso faces major problem | OneFootball

Familiar issue obvious against Juventus as Blues crash to second successive pre-season defeat

Chelsea’s summer struggles continued as they were beaten 1-0 by Juventus in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Pre-season is all about building fitness and familiarity, but for the second game running the Blues looked flat as they struggled to break down Juventus before conceding to a wonderful curling effort from Edon Zhegrova in the second half.

Xabi Alonso’s side appeared stuck for ideas in search of an equaliser and despite the return of Mykhailo Mudryk, they never truly looked like testing Juventus’ backline.

It is now two losses on the spin for Alonso and Chelsea, who will be looking for a much-needed morale boost when they take on AC Milan in Indonesia this weekend.

Quenda makes immediate impact

Making an impression: Geovany Quenda was Chelsea’s best player against Juventus

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The £40million signing of Geovany Quenda has somewhat flown under the radar amid another summer of turnover at Chelsea.

The 19-year-old did not originally fly out with the squad to Australia as he had a minor knock, and he missed the first two games of Chelsea’s tour.

Back to fitness, though, Alonso entrusted Quenda from the start against Juventus and will have been pleased with what he saw.

The Portuguese winger was a bright spark for the Blues in attack as they dominated the opening stages.

Linking up well with right-back Marco Palestra, Quenda was given license to drift inside and make things happen, whipping in an in-swinging cross for Danny Welbeck to head wide.

His close control in difficult playing conditions was notable, and he constantly looked to get on the ball and drive Chelsea forward.

Quenda does not lack confidence, and he looks ready to come straight into Chelsea’s starting lineup and make an impact.

Unconvincing: Wesley Fofana struggled when passing out from the back against Juventus

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Chelsea desperately need to cut their options at centre-back before the close of the transfer window.

Despite finally agreeing the £31m departure of Trevoh Chalobah to Como, the Blues still have lots of work to do before Alonso can say he has a settled defensive unit.

All this uncertainty is not good for the Chelsea boss as he tries to establish a backline he can rely on.

Without the injured Levi Colwill, Chelsea looked vulnerable and were punished in the second half by Zhegrova.

Alonso would have hoped to see an understanding build between Colwill and Wesley Fofana during the tour, but once again fitness concerns have got in the way and disrupted their momentum.

So many of Chelsea’s issues over the last few years have stemmed from a lack of familiarity in defence.

With three weeks to go until the start of the Premier League season, they look no closer to developing those relationships.

No1 race heats up as Penders makes debut

Battle: Mike Penders will compete with Robert Sanchez to be Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper

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Alonso has been clear about how he views the goalkeeping situation at Chelsea.

Robert Sanchez and Mike Penders will both compete for the No1 jersey this season, with neither player given any guarantees over minutes.

Sanchez has been a divisive presence between the posts for Chelsea since signing from Brighton in 2023, and there are doubts about his ability to compete among the very best goalkeepers in Europe.

Penders, meanwhile, is coming off the back of an impressive season at BlueCo sister club Strasbourg but lacks top-level experience.

There is no standout candidate to assume the role of first-choice goalkeeper for Chelsea, and it will be interesting to see if Alonso begins to favour either Sanchez or Penders in the final weeks of pre-season.

What was clear against Juventus, though, is that some habits are hard to break for Sanchez, and while he remains an excellent shot-stopper, his command of his area still leaves a lot to be desired.

The Spaniard was lucky to get away with flapping at one cross into his area in the first half and he will know one mistake is all the encouragement Penders needs to stake a claim to take his place in the side.