FOOTIE fans joked that Reece James was sent for an early trip “back to England” during Chelsea’s pre-season clash with Real Madrid in the USA.
The Blues took on last season’s Champions League winners in the final friendly of their Stateside tour early on Wednesday morning.
Chelsea suffered a 2-1 defeat to Los Blancos, with goals from Lucas Vasquez and Brahim Diaz sinking Enzo Maresca‘s troops.
James skippered the side in the North Carolina clash and had the unenviable task of marking Vincius Jr for large portions of the match.
And he found himself bamboozled by a beautiful piece of skill by the Brazilian, who nutmegged him as he made his way into the box.
Footage of Vini Jr‘s silky skill went viral and received a slew of comments on social media.
One wrote on X: “I love that nutmeg.”
Another said: “Sent him to buy pancakes.”
And another said: “He is really good.”
One remarked: “This is amazing.”
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Another chimed in: “Vini sent Chelsea Captain Reece James back to England.”
Chelsea have shipped a whopping ten goals in their four pre-season matches against Celtic, Club America, Manchester City and Real.
Manager Maresca said: “Any team wants to do something, they want to win games and compete.
“They have to work in the right way defensively.
“It’s difficult when you concede one goal or two, always starting behind.
“Today, again, for the first five minutes, we had two clear chances.
“When you concede and you are 1-0 behind, 2-0 behind, it becomes difficult.
“But overall, in terms of the things we are doing, we are improving and I’m quite happy.”
