Chelsea suffer defeat to Juventus in lacklustre Hong Kong friendly

Chelsea failed to ramp up their pre-season preparations as Xabi Alonso's side suffered a 1-0 defeat to Juventus in Hong Kong thanks to Edon Zhegrova's stunning second-half strike.The substitute sparked the game into life with the only moment of notable quality when he latched onto Kenan Yildiz's lay-off before curling his first-time effort into the top left corner. As it happened: Chelsea 0-1 JuventusDownload the Sky Sports app | Get Sky Sports on WhatsAppChelsea, operating in the back four that Xabi Alonso has favoured in preparation for the 2026/27 campaign, lacked any real threat throughout and their best chance of the game came from Marco Palestra, who was denied by Michele Di Gregorio after racing into the box. Palestra had shown promise with Geovany Quenda, making his debut alongside fellow new signing Danny Welbeck in the starting line-up, down the right, but creating in the final third was a stumbling block again for the Blues. Who featured for Chelsea? Starting line-up: Sanchez, Palestra, Fofana, Tosin, Hato, Caicedo, Nicoli-Jazuli, Quenda, Joao Pedro, Gittens, Welbeck. Off the bench: Penders, Estevao, Jackson, Sarr, Satpaev, Acheampong, Delap, Anselmino, Essugo, Subuloye, Lavia, Mudryk. They failed to create any clear goal-scoring opportunities but will point to the absences of Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer - who missed out with a minor injury - and Enzo Fernandez in the starting line-up. Welbeck shared the striker duties with Joao Pedro in his first start for his new club and it was the former who combined with Quenda for the only chance before the break, but his header went wide. Mykhailo Mudryk also made his first appearance since November 2024 after his anti-doping proceedings were resolved but his introduction with just under 10 minutes ago could not stop Chelsea suffering consecutive defeats in pre-season. Also See: As it happened: Chelsea vs Juventus Chelsea news and transfer latest Chelsea fixtures Download the Sky Sports App Image: Edon Zhegrova curled the winner in for Juventus against Chelsea The key moments in Hong Kong...21: CHANCE! Welbeck header flies wide after latching onto Quenda cross37: NERVY! Sanchez makes unconvincing claim for a cross but Chelsea survive42: SAVE! Sanchez gets down well to stop Boga's well-hit effort51: CHANCE! Palestra races through on goal but is denied68: WHAT A HIT! Zhegrova curls stunner in to break deadlock82: MUDRYK RETURNS! Forward comes on for first appearance since November 2024Chelsea pre-season so farJuly 28: Chelsea 6-4 Western Sydney Wanderers - SydneyAugust 1: Chelsea 1-2 Tottenham, SydneyAugust 5: Chelsea 0-1 Juventus, Hong KongAugust 8: Chelsea vs AC Milan - Jakarta, 1pmAugust 9: Johor Darul Ta'zim vs Chelsea - Johor, 1pmAugust 15: Chelsea vs Real Sociedad - Stamford Bridge, 2pm