It was hardly an occasion to rival some of the classic encounters between these bitter rivals, especially with Bruno Saltor doing his best to step into the void left by Graham Potter’s departure, although in the end it was difficult not to feel that it was not Chelsea’s interim head coach who was having trouble recognising his own team.
Bruno – more bewildered than anyone that he was chosen to hold the fort until Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali can convince Julian Nagelsmann, Mauricio Pochettino or Luis Enrique to take over – could hold his head up high. Whether the Spaniard is still here by the time Chelsea visit Real Madrid next week remains to be seen, but at least his players listened to him. At least there was no mutiny, on or off the pitch.
