Chelsea suffered their second straight pre-season defeat as Edon Zhegrova's left-footed rocket guided Juventus to a 1-0 win over the Blues in Hong Kong.

Having beaten Western Sydney Wanderers 6-4 and suffered a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham on the Australian leg of their tour, Xabi Alonso's side were hoping for an improved display in the first of three matches in Asia.

But despite Alonso naming a relatively strong lineup, captained by Moises Caicedo and featuring a full debut for Danny Welbeck, they laboured in attack and were beaten by one real moment of quality.

The teams combined for just one shot on target in a low-key first half, with Jeremie Boga forcing Robert Sanchez into a two-handed save shortly before the interval.

Welbeck was among the players withdrawn by Alonso at the break, and Chelsea's first clear chance fell to another new arrival, Marco Palestra. The Italian full-back arguably should have done better after latching onto Caicedo's through-ball, but with Jamie Gittens in support, he fired straight at Mattia Perin.

Chelsea made seven more changes in the 66th minute, but they fell behind moments later as a Juventus substitute, Kenan Yildiz, produced a sumptuous flick on the edge of the area to find Zhegrova, whose powerful strike nestled in the top-left corner. 

Let's go! #ChelseaJuve [0-1] pic.twitter.com/Bgt5H7ALGf

— JuventusFC  (@juventusfcen) August 5, 2026

Mykhailo Mudryk made his first appearance in 20 months from the bench, after his anti-doping ban was overturned, but the Ukrainian was unable to bring any cutting edge to Chelsea's attack as Juventus held firm.

More teething problems for Alonso

Chelsea are certainly a work in progress going into Alonso's first season at the helm, and there were several notable omissions from Wednesday's squad, including Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and British-record signing Morgan Rogers.

However, the Blues are yet to really fire on all cylinders in their pre-season outings, and Alonso will want more – particularly in attack.

The two teams combined for a mere 1.25 expected goals at Kai Tak Sports Park, with Chelsea contributing 0.61 xG to that figure and Juventus producing 0.64 xG.

Zhegrova's goal was certainly a bolt from the blue, with that shot having an xG value of 0.04, but Chelsea could have few complaints about the result after failing to generate any chances better than Palestra's 51st-minute sighter – with an xG value of 0.2.

The Blues face AC Milan in Jakarta on Saturday, before taking on Johor Darul Ta'zim in Malaysia and returning home to face Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge in their final friendly.