Cesar Azpilicueta is confident Chelsea have learned from their opening-day drubbing as they look to win the UEFA Super Cup against Liverpool.
Frank Lampard’s first match in charge started well enough at Manchester United, where the Blues were unlucky not cancel out Marcus Rashford’s first-half spot-kick in a confident display.
But Chelsea capitulated after Anthony Martial scored, with Rashford netting a second before substitute Daniel James wrapped up a 4-0 win for the hosts at Old Trafford.
It was the worst possible start to the Lampard era and Chelsea’s Premier League season, with captain Azpilicueta hoping to make amends in Wednesday’s Super Cup against Jurgen Klopp’s Reds.
“Last Sunday we got a tough result,” Azpilicueta said. “I think in the first half we controlled the game.
“We were much better than them from the first second. I think we dominated all parts of the game, apart from the result, where we were obviously 1-0 down at half-time.
“But, we had a lot of chances where we could’ve changed the game.
“But, in the end, we lost 4-0 and that was not the result we wanted. It was a heavy defeat, but we have to improve on what we did wrong.
“I think especially in the first half we saw a lot of positives where the team did very well, where we controlled the game. It’s not easy to go to Old Trafford and control the game the way we did.
“But, the only way is to work hard and to learn from the mistakes, to obviously regroup as a team, to work hard, and tomorrow we know that we’re facing a strong side.
“But hopefully we can be at our best, and together I hope we can win tomorrow.”
Pedro, who won the Super Cup three times with Barcelona, echoed his team-mate’s sentiments.
“It’s a final and it’s another big game for us,” he said.
“It’s another trophy and it’s good for your future confidence to start the season by winning a trophy as well.
“It will be a difficult game for us because Liverpool is a strong team with great players.
“They are good on the counter-attack too and, as Azpi said before, we need to read the game well, we need to stay compact all the time and, if we want to win, we need to score when we create chances.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to win a trophy and to start well.”
