Chelsea’s stuttering season endured another low on Tuesday night as the Blues tasted defeat at the home of Dinamo Zagreb in their first group game of the new Champions League campaign.
Thomas Tuchel's side have looked some way from their best all season and that continued out in Croatia as they stumbled to a 1-0 defeat courtesy of Mislav Orsic’s first-half goal. In a group that also contains AC Milan and Red Bull Salzburg, Chelsea will be desperate to avoid any more upsets in Europe.
With a West London derby on the horizon away at Fulham, the Blues need to bounce back immediately with a win at Craven Cottage.
Mirror Football has collated all of the relevant headlines surrounding the goings on at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea look to kick-start their campaign.
Aubameyang handed debut
Tuchel wasted precious little time in handing former Arsenal man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang his Chelsea debut out in Zagreb.
However, the Gabon international was hardly at his best with a relatively muted display that saw him pass instead of shoot twice in the first-half when the goal was beckoning.
Aubameyang was guilty of a few stray passes and for large portions of the tie let the game pass him by, offering very little to the likes of Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling who were tasked with playing off of him.
The ex-Emirates fan-favourite was hooked off shortly before the hour mark and replaced by young forward Armando Broja.
Read a full scouting review of Aubameyang’s first outing in Chelsea colours HERE.
Ex-Blue Jody Morris opens up on what’s next
Former Chelsea player and assistant manager Jody Morris has spoken exclusively to Mirror Football about his own management aspirations as well as what is next for him at this stage of his career.
Morris was Frank Lampard’s right-hand man in the Stamford Bridge dugout during the Blues legends tenure as manager and has explained how he has turned down offers of management from Championship clubs.
"I always thought I was going to be a manager myself, but didn't think it would maybe come around as quickly as possible," Morris says.
He explained he was approached by a Championship outfit shortly after he and Lampard were sacked by Chelsea in January 2021, and the first thing he did was call up his former teammate for advice.
"[Lampard] was like 'mate, you have to do it,'" he adds. "Then, once I'd kind of gone for interview I started thinking about that long-term.”
Read the full interview HERE .
MP makes shock Abramovich claim
An MP has claimed that around £2.5billion generated from the sale of Chelsea is currently in Roman Abramovich’s bank account, as opposed to supporting victims of the Ukraine war like he vowed.
Earlier this year, the Russian oligarch was sanctioned by the UK government as a result of his ties to Vladimir Putin and as a result was forced to put the Blues up for sale.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Russia said: "One of the people who is sanctioned in the UK is Roman Abramovich.
"Chelsea was sold on May 30, but the billions of pounds are sitting in his bank account because the Foreign Office still hasn't set up the fund so that the money can be given to the people of Ukraine.
"Why is the Foreign Office taking so long? When is it going to be sorted?"
Find the full story HERE.
