COMMENT
The National Stadium in Singapore could hardly be considered a second home for Alvaro Morata but his Chelsea career nonetheless began in familiar surroundings - on the bench.
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The man who continually made such an impact as a substitute for Real Madrid last season had to wait until the 63rd minute before being introduced into Tuesday's International Champions Cup clash with Bayern Munich.
It's doubtful that he ever bore witness to such dreadful defending during his two separate stints at the Santiago Bernabeu, or indeed his two-season spell with Juventus.
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Chelsea were 3-0 down by the half-hour mark, with Thomas Muller netting a classy double after Rafinha had opened the scoring with bouncing drive from distance that Thibaut Courtois must still be wondering how he failed to reach.
Antonio Conte's men only trailed by two goals by the time Chelsea's most expensive player finally entered the action, with Marcos Alonso having lifted the Blues' beleaguered spirits with a sweet strike just before the interval.
Morata did not inspire a turnaround but his arrival undeniably coincided with Chelsea's best spell in the match.
He looked sharp right from the moment he came on in place of Jeremie Boga, winning a throw-in deep in Bayern territory with his first couple of touches.
Then, there were a couple of nice shows of his fancy footwork and deceptive pace, with the Spain international setting up a dangerous attack by skipping past Milos Pantovic in the middle of the park before drawing a foul from the same player after a surge up the left wing.
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Morata also challenged for the corner that dropped so invitingly for Michy Batshuayi to convert with just five minutes remaining but there was to be no dramatic last-gasp equaliser for £70 million man.
Instead, there will be a modicum of satisfaction with his match sharpness but also the realisation that Batshuayi could yet offer spirited competition for the coveted lone central striking berth in Conte's starting line-up.
However, he did not move to Stamford Bridge to swap one seat on the bench for another and he did enough to suggest in his cameo in Singapore that he will prove a mobile and effective outlet for Chelsea this season.
He is not young in football terms and the 24-year-old himself acknowledged earlier this year, "I have to take off now."
Morata finally has the right coach and the right club to help him do just that. His days on the bench are coming to an end.
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