Moises Caicedo looked as though he had never been away as Chelsea slipped to a 1-0 pre-season defeat against Juventus in Hong Kong.
Edon Zhegrova’s excellent second-half finish separated the teams in a game short on clear chances, although there were encouraging performances from several of Xabi Alonso’s younger players.
Chelsea controlled plenty of possession without doing enough with it, an issue also evident in ReadChelsea’s full match report.
Geovany Quenda and Marco Palestra combined promisingly down the right, Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli looked comfortable alongside Caicedo and Estevao brought much-needed spark from the bench.
Chelsea’s official match report also highlighted Quenda’s lively debut and the threat Estevao provided after half-time.
Here are our Chelsea player ratings from Hong Kong.
Chelsea player ratings vs Juventus
Robert Sanchez – 7
A reassuring return. Juventus carried the greater first-half threat and Sanchez dealt comfortably with what came his way, including a sharp save from Jeremie Boga.
Marco Palestra – 7.5
Another encouraging performance. Combined naturally with Quenda, attacked the space outside him and came closest to scoring after the break when Mattia Perin denied him.
Palestra is making a serious case for meaningful minutes this season.
Wesley Fofana – 6.5
Quietly solid. Read the danger well and rarely allowed Juventus to isolate him before making way as Alonso spread the minutes around.
Tosin Adarabioyo – 6.5
Strong and composed alongside Fofana. Arkadiusz Milik found little joy against Chelsea’s starting centre-backs.
Jorrel Hato – 6
Comfortable for much of his outing, although Juventus found slightly more space down Chelsea’s left as the first half developed.
Geovany Quenda – 7.5
One of Chelsea’s brightest players.
Direct without being wasteful, happy to come inside and equally willing to attack his defender on the outside. His understanding with Palestra was particularly encouraging.
Moises Caicedo – 8
Chelsea’s best player.
Back for his first pre-season minutes and immediately gave the midfield authority. Caicedo dictated possession, covered space effortlessly and produced an excellent pass to release Palestra after half-time.
He remains the midfielder everything else should be built around.
Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli – 7
The impressive thing was how normal he made it look.
At 16, sharing a midfield with Caicedo against Juventus should have felt like an enormous step. Instead, Nicoll-Jazuli was composed in possession, found sensible positions and rarely looked overwhelmed.
Another very useful afternoon for his development.
Jamie Gittens – 6
There were flashes of the direct running Chelsea want from him, particularly when he received the ball with space on the left.
The final action was too often missing, though.
Joao Pedro – 5.5
A subdued outing by his standards.
Dropped away from the front line looking for involvement but struggled to find pockets of space against Juventus’ compact defensive shape.
Danny Welbeck – 5.5
A low-key Chelsea debut.
Worked hard, linked play sensibly and nearly found an opening, but service was limited and he rarely received the ball where he could hurt Juventus.
Chelsea substitutes
Mike Penders – 6
Had little chance with Zhegrova’s outstanding winner. Looked commanding otherwise on his first Chelsea appearance.
Mamadou Sarr – 6
Slotted into the defence without fuss and looked comfortable circulating possession.
Estevao – 7.5
Chelsea immediately looked more dangerous when he received the ball.
His close control and willingness to attack defenders gave Juventus something different to consider. The Evening Standard’s match coverage also picked him out as one of Chelsea’s brighter second-half performers.
The final pass was not always there, but the intent certainly was.
Nicolas Jackson – 6
Made Chelsea more mobile through the middle and immediately drove at Juventus after coming on.
It was not a decisive performance, but a rating of four feels unnecessarily severe. He carried more threat than Chelsea’s starting forwards and earned several useful free-kicks as the game opened up.
Josh Acheampong – 6
Less adventurous than Palestra but defended his side reliably.
Olutayo Subuloye – 5.5
A difficult introduction to the game. Chelsea’s shape was unsettled by the mass substitutions and he could have reacted quicker as Juventus worked the ball towards Zhegrova for the winner.
Aaron Anselmino – 5.5
Another caught in the reshuffle before Juventus scored. Settled afterwards but had little opportunity to influence the contest.
Dario Essugo – 5.5
Given the armband but found the game difficult to control.
Juventus pressed him aggressively and he occasionally wanted an extra touch that was not available.
Romeo Lavia – 5.5
Worked hard but struggled alongside Essugo to move Chelsea through Juventus’ compact midfield.
Chelsea needed somebody to increase the tempo after falling behind and Lavia could not quite provide it.
Dastan Satpayev – 6
Another lively cameo.
Wanted possession, carried the ball forward and was not afraid to try something despite entering a difficult game.
Liam Delap – 5.5
Plenty of effort without much reward.
Produced one useful late run to release Mudryk, but Chelsea struggled to find Delap regularly inside the penalty area.
Mykhailo Mudryk – N/A
Not enough time for a meaningful rating.
His eight-minute cameo was significant regardless. It was Mudryk’s first Chelsea appearance since November 2024 and he showed an immediate willingness to run at Juventus.
Star man: Moises Caicedo
There were good performances from Palestra, Quenda, Nicoll-Jazuli and Estevao, but Caicedo was a level above.
Chelsea looked calmer with him on the pitch.
His positioning gave Alonso’s side security, his passing accelerated attacks and his ability to recover possession prevented several Juventus counters before they developed.
Pre-season or not, Caicedo already looks ready.
