Chelsea played Udinese in what was thought to be the Blues' last 2022 Pre-season Club Friendly on Friday, July 29. As a result, the stakes couldn't seem higher despite the fact that the Premier League season's first competitive ball has yet to be kicked. 

The disorganized performance in Orlando, the US, versus Arsenal mostly matches that. Needless to say, comparisons have been made between Thomas Tuchel and an irritated Jose Mourinho before the catastrophic 2015/16 season because of his combative demeanor.

There have been concerns among London-based side's fans that the team is not prepared for the next season due to the fact that they only have four tune-up games scheduled and another intensive campaign is underway, which includes a World Cup. In spite of the fact that Friday's game was a chance to provide some much-needed optimism.

The reason for rematch of Chelsea vs Udinese clash

On Friday night at the Dacia Stadium, Chelsea played their fourth pre-season game and came away with a 3-1 win, which was both much-needed and well-deserved. N'Golo Kante scored the game's opening goal, and Raheem Sterling added another in the 37th minute.

However, Gerard Deulofeu capitalized on an Edouard Mendy error to cut the deficit to one goal just before half-time. The late goal by Mason Mount was set up by Callum Hudson-Odoi, who came in as a replacement. There were nine players who weren't included in the first roster announcement on Friday.

That's because the west Londoners had, in fact, been gearing up for a rematch with the same team in a matter of hours. As a result, for the first meeting between the two sides, the players Armando Broja, Conor Gallagher, Ethan Ampadu, Ben Chilwell, Malang Sarr, Trevoh Chalobah, Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were not included in the final 17-man roster.

Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi were apparently making progress in negotiations with Everton, which may explain why they weren't included in the traveling team. No one can say that about the aforesaid Blues players since there are no rumored exits on the horizon for any of them. On Saturday morning, they all trooped out to the field.

This is because, as the Udinese's official site explained, the teams played a second 'behind-closed-doors training match' against one other. In their last exhibition match before the regular season, Tuchel's players defeated the Bianconeri with a final result of 2-0 at the Dacia Arena on Saturday.