Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez started his first football match since April as Argentina beat Guatemala 4-1 on Saturday in an international friendly.
Enzo Fernandez, 23, missed the final stretch of last season with Chelsea after undergoing groin surgery.
The Blues midfielder is now back fit again and playing for his country, who go into this summer’s Copa America tournament as the favourites to win it.
Let’s hope he has a successful summer before returning for pre-season under new Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.
Enzo Fernandez starts in big Argentina win
Argentina brushed aside Guatemala with a 4-1 victory in an international friendly, with goals from Lionel Messi (two) and Lautaro Martinez (two).
Chelsea’s Fernandez started and got an important 71 minutes of football under his belt.
The Argentine national media was very complimentary of the central midfielder’s performance for his country.
TyC Sports wrote: “Enzo Fernandez – 7/10. It is important that he has played so many minutes. He looked good, decisively recovered from the operation, meeting Messi a lot and with a lot of dynamics in the middle. He made some passes that only the chosen ones see.”
Match stats
FotMob has provided the individual data from Fernandez’s eye-catching Argentina performance on Saturday.
- Match rating – 7.5
- Minutes played – 71
- Chances created – 1
- Accurate passes – 85/91 (93%)
- Passes into final third – 13
- Accurate long balls – 7/7 (100%)
- Interceptions – 2
- Recoveries – 2
The Chelsea Chronicle is confident that Fernandez will rediscover his top form next season and be a key figure at Stamford Bridge.
He’s the complete central midfielder that can contribute both offensively and defensively, but the blues need to find the right system for him and Moises Caicedo to thrive alongside each other.