Chelsea suffered a frustrating start to their Champions League campaign after being held by Sevilla, their first goalless draw under Frank Lampard.
In a game of few clear-cut chances, Edouard Mendy marked his return from injury with an excellent save to claw away Nemanja Gudelj’s deflected header after it had flicked off Kurt Zouma.
Sevilla, last season’s Europa League winners, showed off their experience on the European stage.
Former Liverpool forward Suso headed wide before Lucas Ocampos forced another save from Mendy after Zouma’s poor clearance.
Chelsea improved after the break, French defender Zouma and Ben Chilwell both heading chances straight at goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
Sevilla went close to taking the lead in spectacular fashion through substitute Joan Jordan’s dipping volley from a corner.
With Group E rivals Rennes held 1-1 in France, Chelsea head to Russia next Wednesday to face Krasnador with all four teams on one point.
Positives for Lampard despite draw
Chelsea have started this season with a flurry of goals at one end of the pitch – and defensive implosions at the other.
While they failed to score for only the second time in eight games this season, Lampard’s side at least managed a clean sheet after a much-improved performance at the back.
Fifty-eight days after appearing in the final for Paris St-Germain, Thiago Silva returned to the Champions League stage as Lampard shuffled his defence after conceding three against Southampton last Saturday.
Reece James also marked his return to the defence with a solid performance, while Mendy’s save to deny Gudelj proved Chelsea have at least one pair of safe hands in the squad after Kepa Arrizabalaga’s problems.
But on a night when Lampard became only the second Englishman to manage in two Champions League campaigns, after Sir Bobby Robson, Chelsea struggled to cause Sevilla enough problems going forward.
Timo Werner, with seven goals and two assists in his previous 11 games in the competition, lacked service and on the rare occasions he did get sight at goal he was unable to make an impact.
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Chelsea
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Squad number16Player nameMendy
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Squad number24Player nameJames
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Squad number6Player nameThiago Silva
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Squad number15Player nameZouma
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Squad number21Player nameChilwell
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Squad number5Player nameJorginho
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Squad number7Player nameKanté
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Squad number10Player namePulisic
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Squad number29Player nameHavertz
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Squad number19Player nameMount
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Squad number11Player nameWerner
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Squad number9Player nameAbraham
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Squad number17Player nameKovacic
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Squad number20Player nameHudson-Odoi
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Squad number22Player nameZiyech
Sevilla
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Squad number13Player nameBono
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Squad number16Player nameNavas
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Squad number3Player nameGómez
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Squad number20Player nameDiego Carlos
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Squad number19Player nameAcuña
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Squad number10Player nameRakitic
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Squad number25Player nameFernando
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Squad number6Player nameGudelj
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Squad number7Player nameSuso
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Squad number9Player namede Jong
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Squad number5Player nameOcampos
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Squad number8Player nameJordán
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Squad number15Player nameEn-Nesyri
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Squad number21Player nameTorres
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Squad number22Player nameVázquez
More to follow.
Line-ups
Chelsea
- 16Mendy
- 24James
- 6Thiago Silva
- 15Zouma
- 21ChilwellBooked at 64mins
- 5JorginhoBooked at 14minsSubstituted forKovacicat 65′minutes
- 7Kanté
- 10PulisicSubstituted forHudson-Odoiat 90+1′minutes
- 29Havertz
- 19MountBooked at 36minsSubstituted forZiyechat 62′minutes
- 11WernerSubstituted forAbrahamat 90+1′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 2Rüdiger
- 4Christensen
- 9Abraham
- 13Caballero
- 14Tomori
- 17Kovacic
- 18Giroud
- 20Hudson-Odoi
- 22Ziyech
- 28Azpilicueta
- 33Emerson
Sevilla
- 13Bono
- 16Navas
- 3GómezSubstituted forJordánat 33′minutesBooked at 87mins
- 20Santos Silva
- 19AcuñaBooked at 43mins
- 10RakiticSubstituted forVázquezat 80′minutes
- 25Reges
- 6Gudelj
- 7Fernández SaezSubstituted forTorresat 58′minutes
- 9de JongSubstituted forEn-Nesyriat 80′minutes
- 5Ocampos
Substitutes
- 1Vaclik
- 4Rekik
- 8Jordán
- 11El Haddadi
- 14RodrÃguez
- 15En-Nesyri
- 18Escudero
- 21Torres
- 22Vázquez
- 24Fernández
Live Text
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Match ends, Chelsea 0, Sevilla 0.
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Second Half ends, Chelsea 0, Sevilla 0.
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Foul by Franco Vázquez (Sevilla).
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Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Substitution, Chelsea. Callum Hudson-Odoi replaces Christian Pulisic.
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Substitution, Chelsea. Tammy Abraham replaces Timo Werner.
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Corner, Sevilla. Conceded by Reece James.
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Joan Jordán (Sevilla) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Substitution, Sevilla. Franco Vázquez replaces Ivan Rakitic.
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Substitution, Sevilla. Youssef En-Nesyri replaces Luuk de Jong.
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Foul by Joan Jordán (Sevilla).
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Ben Chilwell (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Hand ball by Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla).
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Foul by Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla).
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Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt blocked. Luuk de Jong (Sevilla) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ivan Rakitic with a cross.
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Corner, Sevilla. Conceded by Ben Chilwell.
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Attempt missed. Joan Jordán (Sevilla) right footed shot from the right side of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Ivan Rakitic following a corner.
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Corner, Sevilla. Conceded by Kai Havertz.
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Corner, Sevilla. Conceded by Reece James.
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