Twenty-six days removed from the FIFA Club World Cup final, Chelsea returned to Stamford Bridge as world champions to face Erik ten Hag’s Bayer Leverkusen.
Estêvão was handed a start after finally arriving following a year-long wait and looked lively down the right flank to start. Less than 18 minutes in, the Brazilian capitalised on chaos in the Leverkusen box to score his first goal for the club. The Blues had the better chances of the first half dominating possession while looking to take advantage in transition. Leverkusen had a couple half-chances, but the Blues looked like they didn’t miss a beat from the Club World Cup.
Flekken did well to deny Estêvão late in the first half as the Brazilian remained the most exciting and dangerous player across 45 minutes.
Maresca handed more players debuts on the day with Jorrel Hato coming on for Marc Cucurella as left back. Estêvão floated more centrally with Pedro Neto coming on for Cole Palmer as well giving Ten Hag another element to consider. Jamie Gittens came on as a substitute in the second half with the former Borussia Dortmund man nearly assisting Estêvão right after coming on.
João Pedro capped off the game with a goal in the 90th minute to seal the victory. A moment the Brazilian and fans at the ground enjoyed given how well he performed in the aforementioned summer tournament.
All in all, a solid showing from Chelsea. The Blues would have preferred to be more clinical with the number of chances they created in front of goal, but they will get the opportunity to do so with a quick turnaround facing AC Milan in their final preseason game on Sunday.
Unlike other Club World Cup teams, Chelsea will get two preseason friendlies under their belt before opening their domestic campaign.
Chelsea player ratings from the friendly below.
Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Leverkusen (4-2-3-1)
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Leverkusen: Estevao Stars in Blues Debut in 2–0 Win.
