Chelsea’s Pathetic Form Continues As They Lose Champions League Opener to Minnows Dinamo Zagreb

Chelsea’s Pathetic Form Continues As They Lose Champions League Opener to Minnows Dinamo Zagreb

Martin Moses
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:11 PM
In this article:
UEFA Champions League logo
UEFA UCL
Europe
  • Dinamo Zagreb beat Chelsea 1-0 to record a shock result over the former European champions in the first meeting between the two sides
  • Chelsea failed to break down a well-drilled Zagreb defence as a 13th-minute winner from Mislav Orsic proved to be the tie-breaker
  • Thomas Tuchel will now have to reassemble his troops ahead of next week's clash with RB Salzburg at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea's lacklustre start to this season continued as they fell to a shock 1-0 defeat to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb.

This is the third consecutive away match that Chelsea have lost under Thomas Tuchel in all competitions.

Dinamo Zagreb, Chelsea
Dinamo Zagreb players celebrate after beating Chelsea 1-0. Photo by Slavko Midzor.
Source: Getty Images

Exciting feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy!

Having won the competition just last year, Chelsea walked into the fixture as firm favourites to kick start their campaign with a victory and emerge as group champions.

However, for all their dominance in the game, they were undone by Mislav Oršić's goal, which came against the run of play.

Tuchel handed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang his first start in a Chelsea shirt, but the former Barcelona and Arsenal man couldn't inspire his side as he had a rather dull evening.

Kai Havertz was Chelsea's most potent form of attack on the pitch, but even the German failed to conjure up something for the Blues.

Apart from Aubameyang, Tuchel had rang up some changes from the side that beat West Ham United 2-1 on Saturday. Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount returned to the fold. Aubameyang appeared to be off rhythm as he continues to make a full recovery after the horrible attack in his home in Spain that left him with a fractured jaw.

He was substituted just before the hour mark, with his replacement Armando Broja failing to get to the end of two of Reece James' passes. James hit the framework of the goal to present Chelsea's best chance of the night.

Thomas Tuchel spotted imitating Thiago Silva

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Thomas Tuchel has built a reputation for himself as one of the most elite managers in world football.

His Champions League triumph with Chelsea in 2021 with a squad that he had overseen for less than five months, had a huge impact on his CV. A season before, he had managed to guide Paris Saint-Germain to their first-ever Champions League final.

Tuchel was overseeing a Chelsea training session ahead of their Champions League opener against Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia. Silva was left in London to get some rest after the 38-year-old had started all games this season.

Authors
Martin Moses photo
Martin Moses
Martin Moses is a sports journalist with over five years of experience in media. He graduated from Multimedia University of Kenya (Bachelor of Journalism, 2017-2021)
Tags
Thomas TuchelWorld