A busy week for Chelsea started with a trip to North Wales to take on Wrexham in the FA Cup last sixteen.
Coming off the back of a significant mid-week win against Aston Villa, manager Liam Rosenior made wholesale changes to the team, leaving Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez at home for the contest.
Allez Alejandro
Taking advantage of the absences was Alejandro Garnacho, who played a significant role in Joao Pedro's hat-trick at Villa and had a hand in two goals against Wrexham. Starting against Villa due to Pedro Neto's suspension, following his team's ninth red card of the season against Arsenal, Garnacho took his chance.
Against Wrexham, his shot deflected in to bring Chelsea back on level terms and a challenge on the Argentinian drew the tackle which led to George Dobson's red card and ultimately burst the bubble of the home side.
Following that, Garnacho bagged the goal at the beginning of extra-time, on 96 minutes, to give his side the lead of the game for the first-time, with Joao Pedro adding a late fourth to ensure a scoreline that flattered the visitors.
Defensive difficulties
Robert Sanchez returned to the starting line up and conceded within the opening eighteen minutes. Chelsea were behind in the game twice, having to fight back just to take the game into extra-time following Josh Acheampong's late equaliser.
Sanchez, who was dropped for the previous game against Aston Villa, as a result of some shaky performances between the sticks, was lucky not to concede a third, with a tight offside decision scuppering Wrexham's advances.
Sanchez reclaiming his place from Filip Jorgensen for the FA Cup raises the question over who Rosenior views as his first choice goalkeeper, and with a UEFA Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain coming up next, it will be interesting to see which of the two starts in Paris on Wednesday night.
Tense time
It is an incredibly big and busy week for Chelsea, which saw an additional thirty minutes added to their already tight schedule.
Rosenior would have liked to keep the likes of Joao Pedro and Marc Cucurella on the bench but was able to keep Palmer, Reece James, Caicedo and Fernandez, Trevor Chalobah and Wesley Fofana fully rested ahead of their fixture with PSG. However, Wrexham rattled the Premier League club and the big guns were brought on to see the game over the line.
Their trip to Paris is followed by a home fixture against Newcastle United next Saturday.
Romeo returns
Liam Rosenior made nine changes to his starting eleven for this match, including a rare appearance from Romeo Lavia, who is still yet to complete 90 minutes for Chelsea since signing for the club in 2023 from Southampton FC.
This season, he has also had to contend with the emergence of Andrey Santos as a first-team regular since his return from Strasbourg, meaning that it has not just been his injuries that have limited his opportunities.
Lavia is one of four Chelsea players, alongside Santos, Caicedo and Fernandez, who can play the defensive holding role in midfield.
Lavia managed 60 mins and other rare appearance makers were Dario Essugo, Jesse Derry, and Marc Guiu.
Despite the attention of the world's cameras at the Racecourse Ground and Wrexham's Hollywood hierarchy being in attendance, Chelsea survived the rollercoaster of this fixture.
They continue on into the draw, looking to win the FA Cup for the first time since 2018 and secure the trophy for the ninth occasion in their history.