“The toughest I have faced”- Raphael Leao after going one on one against this Chelsea star
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Portugal international forward Raphael Leao, a brilliant 23-year-old who was rumoured to be on the verge of a lucrative move to England, garnered a lot of attention prior to the European tie at Stamford Bridge. Though James stole the show by keeping the Rossoneri’s main attacking threat under control and contributing a goal and an assist to Chelsea’s cause from a right wing-back position, Leao really fluffed his lines in west London.
Leao was among those left impressed by the performance of the England international after getting almost no change out of him, telling somtosport: “James is a good player, he was all over me and everywhere at the same time, he timed his runs very fine. I hardly talk about opposing players but this guy is actually the toughest I have faced I think.”
“He scored a goal too against us and that’s something you don’t get from every defender. We just have to focus and finish in a good position now because the competition was never expected to be easy. We slipped and we won’t let that hold us back, we will work harder for the next games.”
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Chelsea’s teammate names Reece James ‘best’ in the world
Reece James’ assist helped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score, and he spoke highly of the quality the Stamford Bridge club is seeing from the homegrown star: “For me he’s the best in the world at the moment. I think he’s doing an amazing job and you could see that today; a goal and an assist – I think he’s on top form.”
Chelsea’s Reece James is the youngest player in history to ever score and assist in the same Champions League match. He is 22 years and 301 days old. Chelsea will play Wolves at home on Saturday to continue Premier League action before travelling to San Siro on Tuesday for their next Champions League match, when James will once again face off against Leao.
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Sujeeth Shetty
(766 Articles Published)