Liverpool vs Chelsea: Cesar Azpilicueta hoping Blues can respond to United drubbing with Super Cup win
Sunday’s defeat was the worst possible start to the Lampard era and Chelsea’s Premier League season, with captain Azpilicueta hoping to make amends in Istanbul tonight
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Cesar Azpilicueta is confident Chelsea have learned from their opening-day drubbing as they look to win the Uefa Super Cup against Liverpool.
Frank Lampard’s first match in charge started well enough at Manchester United, where the Blues were unlucky not cancel out Marcus Rashford’s first-half spot-kick in a confident display.
But Chelsea capitulated after Anthony Martial scored, with Rashford netting a second before substitute Daniel James wrapped up a 4-0 win for the hosts at Old Trafford.
It was the worst possible start to the Lampard era and Chelsea’s Premier League season, with captain Azpilicueta hoping to make amends in Wednesday’s Super Cup against Jurgen Klopp’s Reds.
“Last Sunday we got a tough result,” Azpilicueta said. “I think in the first half we controlled the game.
“We were much better than them from the first second. I think we dominated all parts of the game, apart from the result, where we were obviously 1-0 down at half-time.
“But, we had a lot of chances where we could’ve changed the game.
“But, in the end, we lost 4-0 and that was not the result we wanted. It was a heavy defeat, but we have to improve on what we did wrong.
“I think especially in the first half we saw a lot of positives where the team did very well, where we controlled the game. It’s not easy to go to Old Trafford and control the game the way we did.
“But, the only way is to work hard and to learn from the mistakes, to obviously regroup as a team, to work hard, and tomorrow we know that we’re facing a strong side.
“But hopefully we can be at our best, and together I hope we can win tomorrow.”
Pedro, who won the Super Cup three times with Barcelona, echoed his team-mate’s sentiments.
“It’s a final and it’s another big game for us,” he said.
“It’s another trophy and it’s good for your future confidence to start the season by winning a trophy as well.
“It will be a difficult game for us because Liverpool is a strong team with great players.
“They are good on the counter-attack too and, as Azpi said before, we need to read the game well, we need to stay compact all the time and, if we want to win, we need to score when we create chances.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to win a trophy and to start well.”
PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments