‘Our Fault’—Cole Palmer Frustrated With Chelsea Performance in Champions League Opener

Chelsea lost their opening Champions League match of the season to Bayern Munich on Wednesday with star Cole Palmer frustrated by how his side lost the match.

A vintage Harry Kane performance sank the Blues in Bavaria despite Palmer marking his 100th appearance with his first Champions League goal for the club. The talismanic midfielder opined on the team’s performance afterwards, praising the collective but highlighting where they went wrong in their return to Europe’s premier competition.

“I thought we played well. We’ve shown we deserve to play here” Palmer said.

“The three goals we conceded were our own fault. We had chances. We deserved better than what we got. We started well. We had early chances to score, but when you make mistakes at the back it’s always difficult to come back into the game. It was a lack of concentration, and not managing the moments correctly. I feel like we showed we can play against the best teams in the competition.

“The manager said to us before that he knows we can go toe-to-toe. I think we showed that despite the result. To be back in the competition is nice, we just need to kick on from here.”

A Trevoh Chalobah own goal and a Harry Kane penalty had the Blues behind two goals by the 27th minute. Palmer gave Chelsea life two minutes after Kane’s goal, but the prolific striker added a second in the 63rd minute to put the game to bed.

Enzo Maresca felt Chelsea were hard done by a refereeing decision from José María Sánchez Martínez involving Jonathan Tah and João Pedro shortly after Palmer had scored.

“For me, it’s a clear red card,” the Chelsea boss said to reporters postgame.

“When there is not an intention to go for the go for the ball, just to kick the player, why is it not a red card? It’s not aggressive enough the referee said. To give a red card, they need to see blood? For me the intention was to injure so there’s no doubt.”

Bayern manager Vincent Kompany stuck up for his player, appealing for a decision the other way.

Outside of Premier League and domestic cup fixtures, Chelsea face Benfica, Ajax and Qarabağ next before another tough challenge in Barcelona. The Blues should be favoured against their next three opponents ahead of hosting last year’s semi-finalist and a contender for the trophy this season.

While the Blues likely won’t overlook their opposition, Barcelona represents another opportunity, in Palmer’s words, to prove they can compete against the best sides in the Champions League.