Even though Cole Palmer ended up on the losing side during Chelsea’s defeat against Bayern Munich, Owen Hargreaves was full of praise for the attacking sensation.
On Wednesday night, Chelsea began their Champions League campaign by losing 3-1 away to German heavyweights Bayern at the Allianz Arena.
However, there were still some positive performances within Enzo Maresca’s side. For example, Joe Cole hailed Robert Sanchez because the Blues goalkeeper made some exceptional interventions.
Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer, 23, was the real standout individual for the visitors in midweek.
The English attacker, who lined up on the right wing against Bayern, produced a magnificent finish into the roof of the net to make it 2-1 at one stage. Also, his deft touch to score past Manuel Neuer late on was disallowed for a marginal offside.
- READ MORE: Referee Jose Maria Sanchez told he made a ‘terrible’ Chelsea error during Bayern Munich loss
Owen Hargreaves waxed lyrical about Cole Palmer after Chelsea lose to Bayern Munich
According to Owen Hargreaves, Chelsea’s Palmer is a “unique” footballer because he seems to get better when the bigger games come around.
Hargreaves said on TNT Sports: “This finish, Cole is just ridiculous in these situations… I think he’s one of the few players that actually gets better the higher the level goes. You think back to the goals he’s scored in finals for Manchester City. You think about the way he played at the Club World Cup. He has something very unique that the bigger the light gets, the better he gets. It’s just in him.”
Prior to Bayern’s win over Chelsea, Harry Kane highlighted Palmer’s threat, and he didn’t disappoint with an eye-catching performance on the European stage. Fortunately for Bayern, clinical striker Kane was on hand to score two goals for them to help earn three points.
Palmer, who won the Champions League at Manchester City, was a bit-part player the last time he played in Europe’s elite club competition. The difference is now he’s the talisman for a Chelsea side that should take heart from the way they played yesterday away to Bayern.
In terms of the playmaker’s ability to turn up on the biggest stage, we’ve seen for both club and country he frequently does just that.
Cole Palmer statistics vs Bayern Munich
As you can see below, Palmer was a huge positive for Chelsea despite losing against Bayern on Wednesday evening.
| Minutes played | Goals | Total shots | Chances created | Touches | Accurate passes | Was fouled | Match rating |
| 90 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 43 | 24/27 (89%) | 1 | 7.7 |
Jody Morris predicted Palmer would shine in the Champions League before the season started to help elevate himself to another level. Well, it certainly looks like he’s ready to do just that for the Blues in Europe.
His next opportunity to shine in the Champions League will come on 30 September when Chelsea host Benfica. Incidentally, widespread reports in the media suggest that Jose Mourinho could be in the manager’s dugout for the away side by then.
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