Denis Zakaria made his debut for Chelsea in the Champions League, scoring in the team’s 2-1 victory over Dynamo Zagreb, and Graham Potter was impressed.
The 25-year-old, who had been sitting on the bench in both the Premier League and the Champions League, had signed on loan from Juventus on September 1. He had been patiently awaiting his debut.
After securing the group’s top spot, Potter gave the Swiss star his chance, and the player did not disappoint, scoring what turned out to be the game-winning goal 30 minutes after Raheem Sterling had tied it.
Potter acknowledges that Zakaria was not happy to be sitting out, but he worked hard and showed he was prepared when given the opportunity.
Potter claimed that, as you might expect, he feels frustrated and let down when he is unable to play. That is a player’s life, but he has handled it very well.
He has worked extremely hard to train, kept himself in shape, and shown excellent teamwork and support for his teammates. By doing that, you give yourself a chance to succeed when your chance arises. So, kudos to him. It was a great story for the group as a whole, and everyone was so happy for him.
Potter commented on his performance at Stamford Bridge by saying that, in his opinion, he did well. He demonstrated his talent, recovered the ball, aided our offensive play, and scoring is fantastic.
You can see the talent he possesses, and we were also able to see it during training. He has a good shot, so he believes it was a good goal for him and the team. He is pleased that he helped the team perform well and that he scored because it was a crucial goal for us.
With a knock, Zakaria was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek at the 71-minute mark, but Potter said he will not be sidelined.
He just received a high-five from the manager. Just the contact. He was in good shape. No issues with him.
