Alejandro Garnacho believes that the Blues will be better for our narrow Champions League defeat against Bayern Munich, promising that lessons from last night’s 3-1 loss will be learned heading into the rest of the competition.
It was a tough night at the Allianz Arena as the Blues went two goals down despite a promising start in Bavaria. Although Cole Palmer brought us back into contention with a goal on his 100th appearance for the club before the break, Bayern would find another in the second half as they secured a 3-1 win.
Having joined late into the transfer window, Garnacho was brought onto the pitch with just over 20 minutes remaining in our Champions League opener. The winger felt that our performance showed promise and that we’ll need to learn from our experience in Munich heading into the rest of the league phase.
‘We will learn from this defeat,’ Garnacho opened, speaking after full-time. ‘I think we did a good game, but Bayern Munich are a strong team and were at home.
‘I think it’s just the first game, that's how we look at it. You always want to win, but it’s a long season and we have a lot of games [left] to qualify. The next two games [in the Champions League] are at home, so we have to take the full six points and keep working hard for our goals.
‘I’m really happy to play for this club in the Champions League – it’s the best competition and everyone wants to play in it – but we are all a little bit sad because of the defeat. It’s a long season so we will be ready for the rest of the games and qualify.'
The 21-year-old believes that we will be able to match any team in the competition, referring to our recent Club World Cup success, where we beat the current European champions in PSG.
He continued: ‘Winning the Club World Cup a few months ago against a team like Paris Saint-Germain shows that we are here to fight in this competition, not just play.
‘We want to win every game, but the Champions League season is long and we have a lot of games still to play. We still have time to qualify, and that is what we’re going to try to do.’
It’s been a busy few days for Alejandro, who made his debut for the club against Brentford before flying out to Munich to also make his European bow for us. Speaking about his experiences in Chelsea blue so far, Garnacho has enjoyed getting to grips with his new environment at Cobham.
‘I am still trying to get to know everyone, the manager and the players, but I am really happy to be here,’ he explained.
‘I still need to get minutes and train. I think we did a good game, but Bayern are a very good team as well.’