It was not all rosy for Chelsea on Tuesday night as two of their important players – Ben Chilwell and N’Golo Kante got injured during their 4-0 thrashing of Juventus.
N’Golo Kante who is seen as the most enterprising Chelsea’s midfielder twisted his knee in the first half of the game and had to be substituted by Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the 37th minute.
As for Ben Chilwell who has been enjoying fantastic form this season, injured his right knee in the 69th minute and was replaced by Cesar Azpilicueta.
Before the exit of N’Golo Kante, Chelsea was already 1 goal up, thanks to Trevoh Chalobah’s 25th-minute strike.
After the exit of the French midfielder, Reece James doubled Chelsea led in the 55th minute. Three minutes later, Callum Hudson-Odoi made it 3-0.
As Juventus continued to fight for the equalizer, Timo Werner added to Juventus’ woes by scoring an injury-time goal to make it 4-0 for the home team.
Aside from the four goals, Chelsea overpowered Juventus at every aspect of the game including ball possession (55 percent) and shots on target (8 for Chelsea and 2 for the visitors).
The 4-0 thrashing of the Italian team helped Chelsea to jump to the top of UEFA Champions League Group H with 12 points in 5 games, the same points as Juventus but with superior goals difference.
Based on this, Chelsea and Juventus have qualified for the next round of the competition with a match to go.
However, Ben Chilwell and N’Golo Kante’s injuries added a little sadness to Chelsea’s party. The two players could miss Chelsea’s Premier League game against Manchester United on Sunday, November 28.
After the 4-0 win over Juventus, Chelsea’s coach, Tuchel, told reporters that the club would confirm the gravity of Ben Chilwell and N’Golo Kante’s injuries on Wednesday, November 24.
“It worries me because he [Ben Chilwell] was in such a fantastic moment – like Reece (James) on the other side,” said Tuchel of Chilwell in his post-match press conference.
“They were in the best shape they could possibly be, so strong and so confident and with such a lot of quality.
“He was in a lot of pain, now he feels a bit better. He has an examination tomorrow (Wednesday) to be more precise. Hopefully, we get away, fingers crossed, with not too bad news.
“With N’Golo, it’s a bit the same,” he added. “He got stronger and stronger in the first half but twisted his knee a little bit. Hopefully, it’s not too bad.”
On the fact that three Chelsea’s academy players – Chalobah, James, and Hudson-Odoi were on the scoresheet against Juventus on Tuesday, coach Tuchel said the mixture of homegrown talent and superstars from abroad makes his team special.
“The crowd loves it and I’m absolutely convinced that everybody loves it”, the German coach said.
“This is what makes teams special, not only the superstars and not only the best players from abroad, which we also have in our squad, but it’s the mix.
“To have talented and humble guys from the academy, full of quality, for whom it’s their biggest dream to perform at Stamford Bridge, to perform in blue, to be part of a strong Chelsea team, that is so nice.
“It’s another excellent day for the academy. Full credit to them. It’s a pleasure to have these boys and I strongly believe this is a huge part of our big success, that we have this mix between homegrown talents and top players.”
3 responses to “Ben Chilwell and N’Golo Kante injured during Chelsea’s 4-0 thrashing of Juventus”
It’s really a worrying news because those two players are very important players and are playing one of their best football presently,but if anything,Chelsea players have shown to always step up their games whenever they are being called upon and Tuchel has utilize his squad to their maximum strength,he is not dependent on just individuals,rather he is using his team of players and full squad and they have all buy into his footballing idea.I wish Chilwell and Kante perfect recovery.
Chelsea are the bomb. They seem to make playing seamless. Surely Chelsea is going to win trophies this season. Food for Chelsea.
[…] Kante is a faithful Muslim who is presently observing Ramadan, which indicates that from April 1 to May 1, he is not entitled to eat or drink throughout daylight hours. […]