Chelsea have ended their penultimate pre-season friendly match on a high note as Estevao scored in his debut against Bayer Leverkusen. Bayer Leverkusen came to Stamford Bridge with their full squad to face Chelsea in a friendly match. This was Chelsea’s first home match in the 2025-26 season. The English club were the dominant side and Erik Ten Hag’s Leverkusen have now tasted defeat again in a pre-season friendly. Chelsea’s Brazilian wonderkid, Estevao Willian, made his Chelsea debut in this match. Chelsea fans already believe that Estevao is going to be the ‘joker’ in their squad.
Chelsea-Leverkusen Match Report
Chelsea defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 quite comfortably. Chelsea started the match in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Liam Delap as the target man. The big news was the official debut of new signing Estevao Willian from Palmeiras. On the other hand, Former Manchester United coach Erik Ten Hag fielded his first eleven also. In just 17 minutes of the first half, Estevao came into the spotlight. He took the opportunity from the rebound of Palmer’s shot and scored with a vicious strike. From the very beginning of the match, Chelsea were the better side on the field. Chelsea goalkeeper barely had to be cautious. The only spicy moment came when Leverkusen’s new recruit, Jarrel Quansah, made a hard tackle on Cole Palmer. Palmer immediately reacted to that tackle and the referee and others had to put them aside. The situation remained the same in the second half also. Bayer Leverkusen were simply finding it very hard to break the Chelsea defence. Chelsea, on the other hand, took a total of 25 shots against the Bundesliga ‘Invincibles’. In the dying minutes of the match, Chelsea found their last goal. Joao Pedro’s low and accurate shot found the back of the net and Chelsea sealed the match point. With this victory, Chelsea will fully focus on the main prize that is the EPL championship. But after so many years, the Chelsea fans are now dreaming of a decent run in the league.
Estevao Shines for Chelsea But Delap is under Pressure
Chelsea fans are already excited about the long-term signing of Estevao. The young lad has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. But the thing that has caught the eyes the most is the cool and calm attitude of the Brazilian. No doubt he has arrived at Chelsea with high hopes but it is easier to lose concentration with the hype created around someone. Throughout his spell at the match against Leverkusen, Estevao looked sharp and confident as if he had been a part of the core team for long. His electric run through the right wing and his natural ability to dribble past any defender will add more firepower to Enzo Maresca’s tactics. Meanwhile, Chelsea fans are still waiting for their new striker, Liam Delap, to score his first goal in Chelsea colours. Chelsea have bought Delap this season from Ipswich Town before the start of the FIFA Club World Cup. But, since joining the Blues, Chelsea’s new number 9 is yet to open his book. Football lovers in England already have been imagining young Liam Delap as the next in line to lead England’s attack. Some of them have even admitted that Delap is going to be the perfect successor of Harry Kane. It is too early to even start comparing. As of now, Brazilian forward Joao Pedro has already put pressure on Delap’s shoulders. Delap needs to change his gear and start scoring goals. Head coach Enzo Maresca believes that it was important to have this kind of healthy competition in his team. He also feels that it is just a matter of time before Liam Delap will register his first goal.
Author’s Note: What’s in Store for Chelsea and Leverkusen?
After this friendly, Chelsea will face AC Milan in their last stages of pre-season. The match will be played here at Stamford Bridge. AC Milan fans expect Luka Modric to make his debut in that match. On the other hand, Ten Hag’s Bayer Leverkusen are in search to find the proper combination in the team. They will begin their Bundesliga run against Hoffenheim on 23rd August.
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