Cole Palmer taught Chelsea a valuable Joao Pedro lesson

Chelsea have now won five of their last six games in all competitions, as they took care of business this week in the Champions League despite facing the toughest opponent of any of the big Premier League clubs in this tournament on the final Matchday of the 2025/26 league phase.

Antonio Conte, Romelu Lukaku, and Napoli pushed Chelsea to their limits, but the Blues ultimately emerged victorious from the road trip to one of Italy’s most beautiful cities with a 3-2 win to seal a playoff bye in the Champions League knockout stages.

The return of former Ballon d’Or candidate Cole Palmer from injury has proven to be a huge boon to this Chelsea side, and no other player has benefited more from Palmer’s return to action than center forward Joao Pedro.

Formerly of Brighton. Pedro seemed to prove some bitter Seagulls fans wrong by being arguably the very best player in the entire Premier League during his opening handful of fixtures with Chelsea.

Injuries and issues in the squad pummeled Pedro’s value, but he is back on the rise again and was one of the standout performers on the pitch against Napoli with mesmerizing efficiency.

Joao Pedro reminded everyone that Chelsea are a much better team with him in the lineup alongside Cole Palmer and that phenom winger Estevao Willian, with the 24 year old Brazilian striker scoring a brace with five fouls drawn and two dribbles completed.

It was a vintage performance, and while Pedro did not need Palmer to succeed, he was so much more dangerous when Palmer came into the game in the second half and carved Conte’s solid Napoli defense wide open with his unique playmaking qualities.

Palmer taught everyone two lessons about the new Chelsea striker. One, that when Joao Pedro gets the right service and works with him, he can play like one of th best strikers in the Premier League. And two, not only that Pedro is good in a nutshell, but that he is elite and accentuated by having that true playmaking midfielder to combine with.