Sign up for Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter, delivered free straight to your inbox
Sign up for Miguel Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
Romeo Lavia is convinced that Chelsea will use the 2-0 defeat in the Premier League against champions Manchester City as a learning curve.
Enzo Maresca suffered defeat in his first competitive game as Blues manager after goal-scoring striker Erling Haaland and former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic were beaten at Stamford Bridge.
Lavia made his first league start for the Blues since being signed for big money from Southampton in 2023.
“Obviously the result on the pitch today was not in our favour, but I think the way we are playing and the way we are now is exactly where we want to be,” Lavia told Chelsea’s official website.
“We’ll take the good things with us and concentrate on the next game.
“We felt like we had a chance to get the upper hand, but that didn’t happen. They were calm, but we had a chance to come back at times. When you play against good teams, you know that things like that can happen.”
“It’s about learning from it. It’s only the first game of the season. There are 38 games in the season and as you can see, something is growing, you can definitely see that on the pitch.”
“I think we can take a lot of positives from this game, we had a lot of chances.”
Lavia’s first season at Chelsea was marked by injuries.
The 20-year-old started every pre-season game this summer and thanked the club’s medical staff for getting him back on his feet.
It’s about learning from it. It’s only the first game of the season. There are 38 games in the season and as you can see, something is growing
Romeo Lavia
“The preseason helped me get here and I’m just grateful to be back in the team. I don’t really want to talk about my injury time, but it’s never easy,” said Lavia.
“Nobody wants to be injured. From then on you just have to look at the positive and be ready. I am extremely grateful to the club and the medical staff after my difficulties last season.”
Chelsea begin their Conference League qualifying campaign against Swiss team Servette on Thursday.
Lavia said: “We work very well together and the atmosphere in the team is great. We are all heading in the same direction. We are looking forward to the rest of the season.”
