Chelsea were beaten in the final of the Guinness International Champions Cup in Miami on Wednesday night.
In our first defeat of the pre-season campaign, Jose Mourinho's side came undone against the manager's former side on a warm Florida night, but still showed positive signs against a strong opposition managed by ex-Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Real were deservedly ahead early on through Marcelo, but Ramires struck back almost immediately for Chelsea with a delicate chip after bursting through the Real defence from midfield, and it looked as though the Blues were starting to settle, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to fire his side ahead once more with a stunning free-kick on the half-hour.
An even end to the fisrst half was followed by early Chelsea domination in the second, before Ronaldo's header delivered a killer blow shortly before the hour mark.
From there on in it became a fitness exercise, with most Chelsea starters making it beyond the 70-minute mark, while some completed the full 90 with just one more outing to come, against Roma on Saturday.
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As promised by Jose Mourinho when he spoke to Chelsea TV on Tuesday, Frank Lampard started the game in central midfield, his first pre-season action, while David Luiz remained in Washington DC with a minor hamstring problem. Also left behind was Juan Mata.
The back five has taken a familiar look in the last couple of games, with Branislav Ivanovic, Gary Cahill, John Terry and Ashley Cole lining up in front of Petr Cech, while Lampard was joined in central midfield by Marco van Ginkel and Ramires as the manager opted for 4-3-3 with Eden Hazard, Oscar and Romelu Lukaku the front three.
Former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti fielded Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Mesut Ozil in his front three, with Luka Modric and Sami Khedira behind in midfield.
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