We could hardly of been handed a more difficult first game on our return to Europe's top club competition than an away tie at Bayern Munich, but Chelsea looked at home on the big stage, even if we travel back to London with nothing to show for our efforts.

After an even start, Bayern got a bizarre and fortunate opener, when a drop-ball ended with Michael Olise's low cross bouncing off Trevoh Chalobah's shins for an own goal. Harry Kane then extended their lead from the penalty spot.

We struck back with a brilliant strike by Cole Palmer as he marked his 100th appearance for Chelsea by placing into the top corner following a clever one-two with Malo Gusto, but we were unable to continue the fightback.

When Kane scored again after the half-time break, the home side's two-goal advantage was too much for us to overturn, despite enjoying strong spells of possession in the closing stages and Palmer having a second disallowed by VAR for offside.

The selection

There were four changes to the starting line-up from the side which drew at Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday. That included the return of Cole Palmer from the start to make his 100th apperance for the club, joining Enzo Fernandez and Pedro Neto as one of three attacking players, behind striker Joao Pedro.

Fernandez's place in midfield was taken by Reece James, captaining Chelsea alongside Moises Caicedo. In defence, there were changes to both full-backs, where Malo Gusto and Marc Cucurella came in. Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo continued in the centre, ahead of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

Back on the big stage

When our 2025/26 Champions League campaign kicked off, it did so in an incredible atmosphere inside the Allianz Arena. The home fans were bouncing behind one goal, but the travelling Blues support more than held their own, despite being positioned high up in the corner of the third tier.

There was no doubt that this was the main stage and Chelsea were back where we belong, in Europe’s top tier on a massive European-night clash between two of the continent’s biggest clubs.

The players didn’t look to be intimidated by the Germans’ vocal efforts either, enjoying plenty of possession in the opening stages and showing the game’s first threat when Neto got free in the channel and tried to find Joao Pedro in the centre with a low cross, but our striker was outnumbered and shielded away from the ball.

We attacked from a very similar position not long afterwards and this time Joao Pedro was able to make contact, but it wasn’t a clean connection as he attempted to bring it under control amid heavy pressure, and it rolled wide without worrying Manuel Neuer.

For Bayern’s part, the home side’s early threat was restricted to a Harry Kane header which looped well over, and an ambitious effort by Luis Diaz from range, which flew high into the fans behind the goal.

The home team’s share of possession started to increase as the first half went on, but it was far from one-sided. In fact, the closest either side came to a goal in the first 15 minutes was when Cucurella – public enemy number one in Munich as the German fans held a grudge from his role in Spain’s win over them at Euro 2024 – ghosted in at the back post to meet Caicedo’s diagonal ball, but he couldn’t quite stretch enough to direct his header on target.

Behind in bizarre fashion

However, it was the team in red who got the first goal, helped by a huge slice of luck. When Joshua Kimmich attempted to spread a free-kick out to the left wing he struck it straight into the referee, meaning a drop-ball to him 10 yards outside the Chelsea box. He went right with his second attempt, where Michael Olise was able to get a low cross in, which bounced in off Chalobah’s shin as he tried to deny Dayot Upamecano a tap in.

Before we really had time to regroup after that unfortunate goal, things got worse. Caicedo attempted to take the ball off Kane’s toe from an awkward angle and, when the striker went down, the referee pointed to the spot after a slight delay. The England captain slotted the penalty into the bottom corner himself.

Instant response

Chelsea wasted no time reducing that deficit. Almost straight from the restart, we found space to break on the counter, as Palmer charged upfield down the middle with the ball. As he approached the edge of the box, Cole exchanged a slick one-two with Gusto, then placed his shot perfectly into the top-left corner. We were still behind, but it was very much game on as the Blues supporters roared their approval.

The momentum now seemed to have swung in our favour for a spell as we attempted to exert pressure on the home team. Caicedo, Gusto and Neto all tried their luck from the edge of the box to no avail.

Digging in

A dangerous spell followed for the Blues and we had to regroup to ensure we went into the half-time break only one behind, as Konrad Laimer rolled a shot narrowly wide of Sanchez’s right-hand post and Olise’s half-volley bounced past the other side even closer. We held strong though, giving ourselves a chance to come back out fighting in the second half.

We certainly gave it our best shot. The second half began with a long delay, as Bayern's Josip Stanisic needed lengthy treatment before being replaced. When play resumed Chelsea looked to play on the front foot and one lovely piece of skill by Joao Pedro and a quick exchange with Neto opened up space for James, but his low shot was too close to Neuer.

The tempo of the game had definitely stepped up a notch since the restart, as the Blues pushed in search of an equaliser, and Bayern changed tack to try and hit us on the counter. That resulted in Sanchez having to make a good block to deny Kane at the end of one such break. Our keeper produced even better as we crossed the hour mark, getting down low to his right quickly to paw away after Olise had been found free near the penalty spot.

Tough finish

However, it was only a temporary reprieve, as Kane got his second of the evening not long afterwards. Again there was some good luck involved, as a loose ball from a 50-50 challenge between Gusto and Serge Gnabry by the touchline bounced kindly to Kane in a dangerous position, and the finish was ruthless, giving Sanchez no chance this time.

That goal reduced the pressure on the home side and allowed the Bayern players to breathe a little easier, making our task all the more difficult as we now faced an uphill task, knowing it would take something special to come back from this two-goal deficit on Munich's own turf.

There was certainly no lack of effort on the part of the Chelsea players, but we found it difficult to disrupt the Germans' now comfortable rhythm during the final 20 minutes, and even during our spells of sustained possession there was no clear route to goal. Palmer did have the ball in the net a second time late on, toeing Andrey Santos' pass past Neuer, but it was ruled out for offside.

And so our first Champions League game of the season ended in defeat, but one which the Blues can take some confidence from following a good performance, especially in a tight first half against a vastly experienced Bayern side, knowing there are few challenges we will face tougher than a European away trip to Munich.

What is next

Chelsea return to Premier League action with another big away trip on Saturday, facing Manchester United at Old Trafford at 5.30pm. We are then on the road again next week, travelling to Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup for a 7.45pm kick-off on Tuesday evening.

The teams

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Tosin, Cucurella; James (c) (Santos 68), Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez (Estevao 81), Neto (Garnacho 68); Joao Pedro
Unused subs: Curd, Jorgensen, Acheampong, Fofana, Hato, Buonanotte, George, Gittens, Guiu
Scorer: Palmer 29
Booked: Maresca 30, Santos 90+6

Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Neuer (c); Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Stanisic (Boey 51); Pavlovic (Goretzka 64), Kimmich; Olise, Gnabry (Bischof 90+1), Diaz; Kane (Jackson 90+1)
Unused subs: Ulreich, Urbig, Kim, Kiala, Daiber, Karl
Scorers: Chalobah og 20, Kane pen 27, 63
Booked: Tah 28, Olise 85, Laimer 85

Referee: Jose Maria Sanchez (Spain)

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