In a shocking UEFA Europa League Group E clash at the crack of dawn on Wednesday (7), Croatian rivals Dinamo Zagreb edged out 2021 UEFA Europa League champions Chelsea 1-0 at home, with the surprise victory paying 7.25 times the odds.
The match was Ducao's 100th milestone match in charge of Chelsea, however, he did not expect that he would meet his Waterloo on this day. Coupled with a lackluster performance in the Premier League, it is feared that the German manager's next few days will be full of challenges.
Chelsea was expected to break the deadlock when Xaviers sent a precise cross from the left, but Aubameyang missed the chance from close range. Chelsea failed to capitalize on the opportunity and then suffered a one-two punch from Dinamo Zagreb's striker Misnav Kersei, with the match only 13 minutes old. Chelsea had plenty of time to turn the game around, but were unlucky to be caught in a quagmire of bad luck, including Aubameyang's goal being blown for offside.
In the 86th minute of the match, a shot from Lesciences hit the post but failed to enter the net, which doomed Chelsea to lose all three points, and this is the first time that Ducao suffered three consecutive defeats on the road since he took over the coaching of Chelsea.
Chelsea invested a whopping 278 million euros in reinforcements this summer, making it one of the biggest clubs in Europe's top five leagues in terms of spending on reinforcements. However, the results have fallen far short of expectations, losing three of their last five matches. After the match, leader Doucao said, "I am angry with the team's performance and with myself, we obviously had good training and preparation but failed to play at the level we should have, I need to take responsibility for this and am therefore very remorseful."
Although Chelsea had 15 shots on goal, 9 more than their opponents, they still couldn't put the ball into the net, and the grasping power of the attacking end became the fatal weakness of the loss.
In the other match in the same group, AC Milan drew 1-1 with Salzburg away from home thanks to a goal from Shalimaikas.
