Pioli: Chelsea’s defeat proves there are no easy games

Stefano Pioli says

wanted to win this game but Chelsea’s defeat against Dinamo Zagreb shows there are no easy games in the Champions League.

“It’s a good result with sufficient performance, but not a high-level performance. If you don’t lift the level of quality and tempo, it’s going to lead to danger. We recovered from a rough start, they started better, and we must do better.

“It was a tough, hard-fought match against a strong opponent, we wanted the victory, but we could’ve done better,”

Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.

“The lads know when they are doing well. Today, especially at the start, we were always second to the ball and Salzburg was able to go on rapid counter-attacks. They created dangerous situations, and so did we, but we weren’t sharp enough in the final ball.

“I think we were too slow in the construction, as Salzburg wasn't pressing as aggressively as we expected and we could’ve created more chances by changing up the attacks. I wanted to see the team more compact, not as stretched out and that would’ve allowed us to play more in their half.

“We suffered on the counter because I think we didn’t get the transitions right and they always pressed our full-backs with a midfielder. I thought it was less that they pressed us in midfield and more that we didn’t move it fast enough, didn’t pick the right passes.”

“The result in Zagreb was honestly a surprise, but it must teach us all that in football there are no easy games. We knew Salzburg were a tough side, they were unbeaten at home last season in the Champions League, even against Bayern Munich,”

added Pioli.

“Our next game is in Zagreb and we know that will already be a tough test.”

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