Chelsea end pre-season with 3-1 win over Real Sociedad: Details
What's the story
Chelsea FC wrapped up their pre-season campaign with a 3-1 victory against Real Sociedad. The match was played at Stamford Bridge and saw British-record signing Morgan Rogers score on his debut. Manager Xabi Alonso used a back three formation for the third consecutive match, hinting at his preferred tactics ahead of the Premier League 2026-27 opener against Fulham. Here are further details.
Tactical approach
Chelsea struggle in the 1st half
Alonso deployed the same 3-4-3 formation that helped Bayer Leverkusen win the Bundesliga in 2024.
This time, Rogers and defender Maxence Lacroix made their debuts for Chelsea.
Despite a strong start with Rogers scoring within 10 minutes, Chelsea struggled in the first half.
They sat too deep and failed to press their La Liga opponents, who equalized through Jon Mikel Aramburu's stunning volley after forcing several saves from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Match turnaround
Enzo Fernandez makes an appearance as Joao Pedro scores brace
Alonso kept the same lineup after half-time and they improved significantly.
Joao Pedro scored from Reece James's cross just two minutes into the half, before adding another late on with a neat finish.
The match also saw Enzo Fernandez come on as a substitute in the 62nd minute. His introduction was met with mixed reactions from fans, amid ongoing transfer speculation linking him to Manchester City.
Information
A look at the match stats
Chelsea managed 59.9% ball possession and had 5 shots on target from 15 attempts. Sociedad managed 16 attempts with four of them on target. Chelsea had 450 accurate passes with their passing accuracy being 91.5%.
Twitter Post
Ready!
Ready for the 26/27 season. 💪 pic.twitter.com/kIgdLQJXJV
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 15, 2026
Summary
How did Chelsea fare in pre-season?
Chelsea started their pre-season with a 6-4 win over Western Sydney Wanderers FC.
Alonso's men then went down against Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a 2-1 affair.
In their 3rd pre-season clash, the Blues lost 0-1 against Italian side Juventus.
A big 3-0 win over AC Milan in Indonesia followed before Johor Darul Ta'zim FC held Chelsea 3-3.
And now, the Blues beat Sociedad 3-1.