Overview
- Alonso confirmed Wednesday that Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill were omitted from the Juventus friendly in Hong Kong as a precaution after sustaining minor contact knocks.
- The manager explicitly denied Palmer had a recurrence of last season's groin problem and described his issue as a contact 'whack' picked up against Tottenham.
- Both players had started and played about 80 minutes in Chelsea’s recent pre-season match versus Tottenham in Sydney, which led to careful monitoring on the Asia tour.
- Mykhailo Mudryk made a substitute appearance after the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned his suspension, and Alonso called the return an emotional boost for the squad.
- Chelsea say they will manage player minutes day by day because Colwill only recently returned from an ACL layoff and the club wants to avoid setbacks before Saturday’s match with AC Milan.