Liam Rosenior praised his young Chelsea side’s ability to deal with adversity after they produced a spirited comeback against Napoli to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.
An excellent double from João Pedro and a devastating cameo from Cole Palmer ensured Rosenior’s side secured a 3-2 win at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and avoided the inconvenience of having to go through next month’s two-legged playoff for a place in the knockout phase.
It had looked dicey when Chelsea trailed 2-1 at half-time, only for the youngest side in the competition to respond and condemn Antonio Conte’s Napoli to an early exit.
“That’s what experience is,” Rosenior said. “It’s nights like this and it’s also having setbacks and understanding why setbacks happen. I was told that’s the first time we’ve won away in the Champions League for a long, long time as a football club. That’s a great marker for the team and hopefully we can continue.”
Chelsea had not enjoyed an away win in this competition since October 2022. They led through an early penalty from Enzo Fernández but looked set to rue throwing away another winning position. It took Palmer coming on at half-time to make João Pedro’s goals and bolster Rosenior’s strong start since replacing Enzo Maresca as head coach earlier this month.
Palmer has endured an injury-hit season and was not fit to start in Naples but Chelsea’s star player made his presence felt during the second half. “There was no way that Cole could have started this game and played through to 60, 70, 80 minutes,” Rosenior said. “I knew that Napoli had had a difficult time with injuries.
“I felt that later in the game we would be stronger and I felt Cole’s performance was magnificent. Not just his quality, his pressing, his running for the team. We need to look after him. He’s had so many games over a long period of time.
“We need to look after him and I think the way that he’s managed himself in the last two weeks has been magnificent and hopefully we can now see the best of him now that he’s fully fit. We need to see him absolutely relish nights like this on a big occasion.”
