Overview
- Alonso said both Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill were left out of Chelsea’s friendly against Juventus in Hong Kong as a precaution after suffering minor contact knocks.
- The omissions came after Wednesday's tour match sequence that saw both players play about 80 minutes against Tottenham in Sydney and then report 'discomfort' on the follow-up sessions.
- Alonso explicitly dismissed fears that Palmer had a recurrence of his groin problem and described the issue as a contact 'whack' picked up vs Tottenham.
- Colwill is being managed especially carefully because he has only recently returned from an anterior cruciate ligament layoff, and the club stressed day‑to‑day monitoring.
- Mykhailo Mudryk made a brief substitute return after CAS cleared his provisional suspension, and Chelsea hope Palmer and Colwill will be available for the next friendly against AC Milan.