Chelsea’s N’Golo Kanté had to be replaced early
Chelsea FC will suffer their next setback in the fight for the Champions League places. N’Golo Kanté is also injured in the bankruptcy against Manchester United.
National player Antonio Rüdiger has suffered another setback in the fight for a return to the top flight with Bayern Munich’s Champions League opponent FC Chelsea.
In the prestigious duel with record champions Manchester United, the Blues lost 2-0 (1-0) with Rüdiger in the starting eleven at home and, after four matches without a win, are now fourth with 42 points, just one point ahead of pursuers Tottenham Hotspur.
However, fifth or sixth place could possibly be enough to qualify for the premier league, should an English club win the current Champions League or be excluded from Manchester City for breach of financial fair play as early as next season.
Martial and Maguire meet
Anthony Martial (45th) and Harry Maguire (66th) scored for ManUnited, who stopped their decline after only one point from three games and are now back in seventh place with 38 points.
Two alleged Chelsea goals by substitute Kurt Zouma (56th) and Olivier Giroud (77th) did not find recognition after video evidence.
Bitterly bitter for Chelsea ahead of their first round of sixteen against Bayern on Tuesday next week is the threat of midfielder N’Golo Kanté’s retirement, with the French champions injured in the twelfth minute. Coach Frank Lampard said after the match: “It is an adductor injury. We’ll make further investigations, but it doesn’t look good.”