'London Blue': Chelsea hit back at Flamengo as unexpected Club World Cup rivalry takes new twist | OneFootball

Blues were referred to as ‘London Blue’ on social media and have embraced the reference after outlasting Flamengo at the Club World Cup

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The two sides met on the pitch earlier in the month with Flamengo coming out on top in the Club World Cup Group D clash.

Pedro Neto had given the Blues the lead but second half goals from Bruno Henrique, Danilo and Wallace Yan completed the turnaround as a red card for Nicolas Jackson completed a miserable outing for Enzo Maresca’s side.

“Easy win against London Blue,” they wrote on their official English account on X, formerly Twitter.

At the time, those three points were crucial for Flamengo as it helped them to top the table. Though, their reward for doing so was a last-16 showdown against Bayern Munich.

Meanwhile, Chelsea finished as runners-up and were therefore paired with Group C winners Benfica in the knockout phase.

Maresca’s side remain in the competition thanks to a 4-1 extra-time win over the Portuguese giants whilst Flamengo’s journey came to an end at the expense of the Bundesliga giants.

Looking ahead to their quarter-final date with Palmeiras, the Blues subtly took a cheeky dig of their own at Flamengo’s expense on social media.

“London Blue's quarter-final tie,” they wrote on X.

‘London Blue’ is a reference to Konami’s football video game series Pro Evolution Soccer, who did not previously have the relevant licensing agreements for real club names and referred to Chelsea as “West London Blue” for a spell, also simply “London FC”.

That said, Chelsea will be hopeful they do not fall short against Brazilian opposition for a second time in the tournament as they aim to move one step closer to being crowned world champions.