Summary:
- Chelsea defeated Los Angeles FC 2-0 in Monday’s Club World Cup game in Atlanta.
- Only around 22,000 fans showed up at the 71,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
- Both team managers discussed the peculiar atmosphere caused by the turnout.
Chelsea may have walked away with a 2-0 win over LAFC on Monday, but the Club World Cup clash at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium was marked more by empty seats than on-field drama.
Enzo Maresca: “It Was a Bit Strange”
Only about 22,000 fans showed up to fill a stadium built for 71,000, so the empty seats were impossible to miss during what should have been a big international game.
Maresca said after the match,
I think the environment was a bit strange, the stadium was almost empty, not full
The match kicked off on a Monday afternoon, which was not exactly prime time for drawing a crowd, and the timing clearly didn’t help.
Despite last-minute general admission ticket discounts to $51, the game’s turnout was incredibly low especially for Atlanta, home to one of MLS’s most passionate fanbases in Atlanta United, which frequently gathers crowds close to 47,000.
Maresca, though, made it clear his players needed to stay focused regardless of the backdrop.
We are professional and we have to adapt to the situation, to the environment. You have to adapt when you play with a full stadium. You have to adapt when the stadium is not full but it doesn’t matter.
Steve Cherundolo: “It’s Kind of Different Each Game”
LAFC manager Steve Cherundolo wasn’t particularly concerned about the turnout either.
It’s kind of different each game you look at and I don’t think we should be talking about this right now. I think we should wait until the end of the tournament to make a more complete summary of what was going on and opinion of it as a whole as opposed to right now and one game.
The game itself wasn’t short on highlights for Chelsea. Liam Delap, newly signed from Ipswich Town in a deal worth around £30 million, made an immediate impression by assisting Enzo Fernández on the second goal of the night.
Maresca commented,
I am curious to see how Nico reacts [to Delap]. He competed with Guiu, who is very young, during the season. They are both good number nines.
With the win, Chelsea sit tied at the top of the group alongside Brazilian side Flamengo, who also recorded a 2-0 victory over Esperance de Tunis.
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