Cole Palmer called out his Chelsea team-mates for their lack of focus and failure to "manage moments correct" during Wednesday's crushing 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich. Enzo Maresca's squad suffered heartbreak at the Allianz Arena in their first Champions League outing for nearly two-and-a-half years, as Trevoh Chalobah's unfortunate own goal and Harry Kane's devastating double sealed a thoroughly deserved victory for the German giants.
Chelsea's star man Palmer netted his side's solitary strike in the opening period, capping off a slick attacking move by exchanging passes with Malo Gusto before coolly slotting past Manuel Neuer. Nevertheless, Palmer's effort - his second goal in just four days following his strike in Saturday's thrilling 2-2 stalemate with Brentford - proved insufficient to alter the final outcome.
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Following the match, Palmer pinpointed exactly where things unravelled for the Blues in a forthright post-match discussion.
The England star emphasised his team's concentration lapses and their failure to handle crucial passages of play effectively.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Palmer declared: "Yeah [frustrating]. We deserved more. We started well, had early chances but when you make mistakes at the highest level it's difficult. There was a lack of concentration, not managing the moments correct.
"We showed we can play against one of the best teams in the competition. We deserved more to be honest. The manager said to us before we can go toe-to-toe. It's a good learning curve and to be back in the competition is nice.
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"I don't even know [what happened in the second half]. We're not coming here to be a learning curve. We showed we want to compete."
Palmer himself was back to his finest form for the Blues.
He thought he had bagged a second goal late on, slotting the ball beyond Neuer following a superb pass from Andrey Santos, but VAR chalked it off for an offside in the build-up.
He provided a beacon of hope in an inconsistent display from the Blues, who demonstrated some elaborate passing play and appeared dangerous at moments, but failed to test Neuer on numerous occasions.
Offering his verdict on Chelsea's overall showing, Maresca commented after the match: "I think overall the performance was quite good. We started very well for 20 minutes, creating chances.
"When we conceded the goal, we can avoid that kind of goal. We were in the game and scored."
Chelsea are next in action when they travel to Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday. The Blues then make the trip to Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup before heading home to face Brighton.