Chelsea's pre-season preparations hit a snag as they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Juventus in Hong Kong, courtesy of a spectacular second-half goal from Edon Zhegrova. The substitute's moment of brilliance, which saw him latch onto Kenan Yildiz's pass before curling the ball into the top left corner, was the sole highlight in an otherwise lackluster match.
Chelsea, lining up in a back four favored by Xabi Alonso ahead of the 2026/27 campaign, struggled to pose a significant threat and their best chance came from Marco Palestra, who was denied by Michele Di Gregorio after a sprint into the box. Palestra showed promise alongside debutant Geovany Quenda and new signing Danny Welbeck, but creating scoring opportunities in the final third proved to be a challenge for the Blues.
The starting line-up consisted of Sanchez, Palestra, Fofana, Tosin, Hato, Caicedo, Nicoli-Jazuli, Quenda, Joao Pedro, Gittens, and Welbeck, with Penders, Estevao, Jackson, Sarr, Satpaev, Acheampong, Delap, Anselmino, Essugo, Subuloye, Lavia, and Mudryk coming off the bench. Despite failing to create clear goal-scoring opportunities, Chelsea can point to the absence of key players Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, and Enzo Fernandez in the starting line-up. Welbeck shared striker duties with Joao Pedro in his first start for the club and combined with Quenda for the only chance before the break, but his header went wide. Mykhailo Mudryk made his first appearance since November 2024 after resolving his anti-doping proceedings, but his introduction with under 10 minutes remaining could not prevent Chelsea from suffering consecutive pre-season defeats.
Upcoming matches include August 8 against AC Milan in Jakarta and August 9 against Johor Darul Ta'zim.