Mixed feelings for Lavia

Romeo Lavia was thrilled to be back on the field with Chelsea, but he was ultimately let down by the team's loss to Liverpool at Anfield.

Enzo Maresca gave the Belgian midfielder a chance to start on Merseyside, taking the place of Enzo Fernandez and teaming up with Moises Caicedo in the midfield.

Lavia made a strong impression during his brief appearance, playing for nearly an hour. However, despite his efforts, he couldn't lead his team to convert a solid performance into a victory, as Liverpool triumphed 2-1. Mo Salah and Curtis Jones scored for Liverpool, sandwiching a goal from Nicolas Jackson.

"I believe we performed really well as a team," Lavia remarked while looking back on the match.

It's hard for me to determine if we deserved a better outcome, but I felt we generated numerous opportunities and largely managed the flow of the game.

"Did we deserve a better outcome? Personally, I believe we might have, but that's just my first impression. Nevertheless, we should still feel encouraged by how we performed."

When facing a powerful team at Anfield, it's expected that there will be moments where we might lose possession and they could launch counterattacks. However, I believe we handled their threats effectively overall and managed to create several chances of our own.

"We understood that we were up against a very tough opponent, and while they managed to win this time, I believe there are many encouraging aspects we can draw from this match as we move forward in the season."

The midfielder stated that he and Reece James, another player coming back to the team, decided to play for about 45 minutes to an hour. Lavia expressed his happiness about being back on the field, even though he felt disappointed by the outcome of the match.

"Absolutely, I'm really satisfied with the playing time I received, and it's great to be back on the field contributing to the team," said Romeo.

As someone who loves to compete, I have a strong desire to succeed, so I'm feeling a bit let down by the outcome. Today is definitely a mix of emotions for me.

The manager decided to limit my playing time and took me off the field before the hour was up. Naturally, I’d love to play the whole game, but it's a choice he made because he believed it was in my best interest and the team’s. I'm okay with that.