Chelsea succumbed to a 1-0 defeat against Valencia at Stamford Bridge this evening, as the Blues started their 2019/20 Champions League campaign off on the wrong note.
A second half goal from Spanish forward Rodrigo ended up proving to be the difference between the two sides come full time, as Los Che came away from west London with all three points in what was a tight affair.
The Blues will be rueing the chances they missed during the game, especially the one that came from the penalty spot towards the end of the second half.
And being awarded a spot-kick, Ross Barkley stepped up to the ball despite both Willian and Jorginho insisting that he didn’t take the penalty.
The England international ended up missing from 12 yards, with his attempt scraping the bar, a miss that condemned Chelsea to a miserable night back in the Champions League.
Given this result, manager Frank Lampard has now set a new, but unwanted record, at Chelsea, as he became the first Blues manager ever to lose his first Champions League game in charge at Stamford Bridge.
1 – Frank Lampard is the first Chelsea manager to lose his first Champions League match in charge – 10 of the previous 11 had won, while Gianluca Vialli drew with Milan in 1999. Process. pic.twitter.com/g6JMOTAeA5
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 17, 2019
Chelsea now face a uphill struggle in their attempts to qualify for the knockout rounds for the competition, especially seeing as they now have to go away to Ajax and Lille in their next two group games…