Liam Rosenior has unlocked João Pedro and must do the same with Cole Palmer for Chelsea to reach their potential
J
oão Pedro had been a Chelsea player for less than two weeks when he faced Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the Club World Cup last summer. The settling-in period was intense. The forward had an impactful substitute appearance when he made his debut in the quarter-final win over Palmeiras, struck a clinical double when Fluminense were downed in the semi-finals and then, on a thrilling, sweaty afternoon in New Jersey, delivered the coup de grace when Chelsea became world champions thanks to a stunning demolition of PSG.
It was 3-0 when João Pedro lifted a clever finish over Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 43rd minute, and the manner of the humiliation was hard for PSG to accept. Heads were scrambled as the newly crowned European champions felt their aura of invincibility ebb away at the end of an epic season. João Neves was shown a red card for a tangle with Marc Cucurella – who else? – and the loss of discipline even involved Luis Enrique, the PSG manager, appearing to slap João Pedro in the face when a mass brawl broke out at full-time.
No doubt there will be scores to settle in round two when the sides meet in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night. For PSG, it is a chance to show that losing to Chelsea was a one-off at the end of a draining, trophy-laden campaign. Motivation is unlikely to be an issue, even if Luis Enrique insists that revenge is not on the agenda. Do not expect a warm reaction from the locals if Chelsea do another of those pre-match halfway-line huddles. Chelsea, with nine red cards this season, will need cool heads if they are to head back to London with hope before next week’s second leg.
