Chelsea injury woe as David Luiz and Tiemoue Bakayoko KO’d in 3-3 Champions League draw with Roma
Antonio Conte confirmed the pair were nursing crocks after the European showdown at Stamford Bridge
CHELSEA are sweating on injuries to David Luiz and Tiemoue Bakayoko.
The Brazilian was substituted after 57 minutes against Roma with a calf injury and followed down the tunnel by a club doctor.
Frenchman Bakayoko lasted 90 minutes but left the pitch with a groin problem.
Antonio Conte has already bemoaned the size of his Blues squad after injuries to Alvaro Morata and N'Golo Kante.
And he took another pop, saying: "After the first half the doctor told me David Luiz had a pain in his calf, and the same for Bakayoko in his groin. It was a good decision to try to protect him. In this moment it’s very important to protect the players.
"We must realise we had three important players out, Kante, Drinkwater and Moses, and this gives us problems, but I am not looking for excuses now."
Luiz's number was called for after sprinting down the pitch on the attack during the 3-3 Champions League draw against Roma at Stamford Bridge.
In the first half, he had gone down holding his hamstring and needed medical attention.
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Chelsea will remember the way he played on against Arsenal with a BROKEN wrist last month.
So the decision to replace him with Pedro may also have had an air of precaution about it.
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Luiz, who opened the scoring after 11 minutes, was annoyed at having to be taken off with the scoreline 2-1 to the Blues after Eden Hazard and Aleksandar Kolarov both netted.
Eden Dzeko amazingly went on to score twice more for the Italian side and leave Conte fearing a first defeat in Europe.
But Hazard grabbed a 75th minute equaliser to maintain their unbeaten record and keep Chelsea top of Group C.
Conte said: "It was fair. It was a difficult game against a good team.
"Above all in the first half we suffered, our performance was good but for sure our football is different than today.
"We suffered possession and it wasn’t easy in the first half, despite scoring two goals. The change of the system wasn’t good, but when you are in a difficult situation you have to change and sometimes to improvise."
