It’s an exceedingly busy finish to Chelsea’a two-week preseason tour, with the Blues taking over Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim barely 24 hours after our pleasant in opposition to AC Milan. It might be a comparatively quick journey throughout the Java Sea, from Jakarta, Indonesia to Iskandar Puteri in Malaysia, which is true on the southern tip of the nation, subsequent to Singapore, however it’s nonetheless a comparatively uncommon incidence that we’d have two video games, pleasant or in any other case, in such fast succession. Fortunately, our preseason squad is over 30 robust at this level nonetheless, so there ought to be loads of contemporary legs for this one.
Date / Time: Sunday, August 9, 2026, 8pm (native), 13.00 BST; 8am EDT
Venue: Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, Iskandar Puteri, Malaysia — a reasonably new stadium that opened solely about six years in the past
Forecast: Sizzling, likelihood of thunderstorms
On TV: none (UK/USA); elsewhere
Streaming: Paramount+ (USA), FanCode (India); StarTimes (NGA); CFC+ (UK/int’l) — CFC+ is Chelsea’s new-ish streaming service; you possibly can watch there for £9.99 (or subscribe for the entire 12 months for £19.99)
Johor Darul Ta’zim crew information: JDT are the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-…-to-back defending champions of the Malaysia Tremendous League, having received the final twelve seasons in a row, and counting. The final 4 years they’ve accomplished so alongside a home treble, even. They’ve carried out a bit much less spectacularly in continental competitors, however they did make it to the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League final season as properly.
They’re presently managed Xisco Muñoz, who led Watford to Premier League promotion in 2021, however struggled at subsequent appointments, together with a 12-game winless stint in command of Sheffield Wednesday, and a disappointing 12 months in command of my hometown crew in Slovakia earlier than taking the JDT job in 2025. He’s solely misplaced 6 of his 56 video games managed since.
The crew is a mixture of native expertise and fairly a couple of imports from the Spanish decrease leagues, together with new signing Juan Diego Molina Martínez, who goes by the nickname/mononym, Stoichkov, after the legendary Bulgaria and Barcelona striker. It’s in all probability honest to say that he’s nowhere close to pretty much as good.
Chelsea crew information: Xabi Alonso handled the Milan pleasant roughly like a aggressive recreation, making solely a pair adjustments on the hour-mark earlier than introducing a couple of extra gamers for the ultimate jiffy. So presumably all those that performed 90 minutes (together with Roméo Lavia!) or something near that (together with all the large stars), will probably be getting the break day on this one.
Promisingly, it wasn’t simply Alonso who handled the Milan pleasant like a correct match, and we obtained the most effective efficiency of the preseason from the gamers as properly. The supervisor was happy sufficient with what he noticed, understanding that we’re solely nonetheless simply getting began.
“I believe that we are going to get higher and by the beginning of the Premier League season we will probably be prepared. However even that will probably be one other start line within the evolution of the crew. So it will likely be a course of that takes months and in each recreation.”
-Xabi Alonso; supply: Chelsea FC
Beforehand: This will probably be our fifth recreation of the preseason, with yet another to return, subsequent weekend at dwelling in opposition to Actual Sociedad. The squad will begin to take its closing form by then.
