Chelsea did not ‘put together proper’ earlier than Convention League defeat – Reece James

Chelsea captain Reece James has stated his facet “disrespected the competitors” as they misplaced 2-1 to Polish facet Legia Warsaw within the UEFA Convention League quarterfinal on Thursday.

The London facet, who received the two-legged tie 4-2, will face Djurgården within the semifinal after profitable their first leg comfortably 3-0.

Nevertheless, Reece bemoaned his facet’s poor preparation headed into the house leg of the tie.

“We had a 3-0 lead, perhaps that performed a component in taking our foot off the gasoline,” James stated. “We’re making progress however that was not progress. If something it was a step again.

“Perhaps we disrespected the competitors. If you happen to do not put together proper, you’ll pay.

“It’ll have an effect on the mindset. It’ll be at the back of folks’s heads. I perceive the frustration. Followers come to see pleasure, we had been irritating to observe.”

Regardless of profitable the primary leg, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca named a robust lineup with Cole Palmer, James and Jadon Sancho all beginning.

Goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen stored his spot within the XI from the primary leg however his rash problem gifted Warsaw a tenth minute penalty, which Tomas Pekhart transformed to provide Warsaw the lead.

Left-back Marc Cucurella drew Chelsea stage close to the half-hour mark. The Spain worldwide is Chelsea’s high scorer of 2025 with Cole Palmer and Nicholas Jackson going 15 and 12 video games with out discovering the again of the web respectively.

Boss Maresca agreed with James’ feedback and stated Chelsea didn’t respect Legia sufficient however praised the followers behaviour within the stands.

“I did not see any dangerous moments from the followers,” Maresca stated. “I already stated after the final sport we have to interact them, so it is what now we have to do.

“We aren’t pleased with the defeat, in all probability after profitable the primary leg 3-0 we tried to handle issues a bit bit, tried to keep away from harm, rotate gamers with an necessary sport on Sunday.”

Chelsea face west London rivals Fulham within the Premier League on Sunday as they give the impression of being to safe Champions League qualification for subsequent season.