Chelsea aim to excel in UEFA's top tournament - Palmer declares

Chelsea's star believes his team do not see this edition of the UCL as a "learning curve" - because they want to be competitive in it straight away.

Enzo Maresca's team were second-best as they succumbed 3-1 to a veteran Bavarian side at their home ground on the matchday.

It was Chelsea's first appearance in the competition since the previous season - and the fixture highlighted a inexperienced side will need to reflect on what it takes to compete at that stage.

But gaffer the Italian suggested his side can gain plenty from the defeat and "develop something great" - while attacker Cole Palmer has rejected the idea that they won't do that quickly.

"We are not arriving here for it to be a learning curve," he stated. "They have demonstrated tonight we want to challenge and we plan to do as well as we possible."

Chelsea secured the CWC in last month, overcoming PSG in East Rutherford, having won the UECL two months prior, but their previous player Pat Nevin always felt the UCL was going to be a greater test.

"It was the type of showing that I foresaw from the Blues," the expert stated. "A lot people were saying prior that they were going to succeed in this league, they are global champions and such, but I was saying, 'wait a minute'. The step up you must to do to come to venues like this is quite significant and a handful of players just do not have that knowledge yet. They couldn't capable to do it as a team today."

The team acknowledge weaknesses

The manager may have been broadly content with his team's performance, but admitted they lost "full concentration for the full 95 minutes".

He added: "I think the team were already knowledgeable of this tournament, of the difficulties. You cannot allow blunders in the way we have done, but I just said to the players, it's a match that we can learn a lot from, and build something great from this result."

The visitors fared well, notably at the start when the winger and the midfielder missed good chances, but mistakes cost them.

They drifted at a set-piece, allowing Munich's attacker Michael Olise free to send a cross that Chalobah guided into his goal. Then midfielder the Ecuadorian brought down Kane to concede a foul - which the skipper netted.

After Cole had pulled a effort to reduce the deficit, Harry Kane sealed victory in the later stage when defender Malo Gusto lost the ball.

They were all backline errors against deadly foes. Munich - a team who have succeeded in their first match in all of their last 22 European campaigns - master the ropes at this level, in a way the current London side are still learning to.

Can the Blues overcome their naivety?

Nevin said: "The game was not totally experience vs youth, but the hosts were definitely a noticeable step ahead of the visitors here. The blunders the team made were rather careless and they were caught out, aside from for the finishes, but for a whole raft of opportunities aside from that. This is what occurs with young players performing in this competition, but they will grow from that. The standard is highest. It is a step up. And that jump may require them a a period."

Lack of exposure may very have been an factor: Away from home, Chelsea fielded their third-youngest in history European lineup.

Their full 24-man group went into the match with merely 117 appearances in the competition among them. In comparison, goalkeeper Neuer, 39, has played 131 times in the Champions League for Bayern by himself.

His teammates Kane, Kimmich and the winger have substantial knowledge at this tier. On the other hand, Chelsea duo Caicedo and Marc Cucurella were earning their initial outings in the tournament although being part of the squad's top players.

Moreover head coach Maresca, part of the Catalan's team during Manchester City' 2022-23 triple-winning campaign, may need to elevate to this standard.

It appeared as if a additional German score was coming for a several minutes ahead of Harry Kane converted it - but Maresca seemed delayed to respond, and only introduced substitutions when his team had fallen 3-1 down.

It was insufficient, yet belated.