Alonso’s Call Helps Lavia Complete 90 Minutes with Pizza Reward

Chelsea’s pre-season ended with more than just match fitness gained. For Romeo Lavia, it delivered a psychological breakthrough that had been three years in the making – and a stack of pizza boxes to prove it.

In Jakarta, against AC Milan, Lavia finally completed 90 minutes for Chelsea. That simple line on the teamsheet carried real weight. He had not gone the distance in a competitive game for the club in three years, and even in friendlies he had not lasted the full match for two seasons.

This wasn’t an accident. It was Xabi Alonso’s call.

According to Kieran Gill of the Daily Mail, Alonso became aware that Lavia’s long, brutal run of injuries had left more than just physical scars. The midfielder had developed a mental block about finishing matches, a barrier that needed smashing before the Premier League season began.

So Alonso chose the moment. He started Lavia against Milan in the Indonesian capital and, when the usual point for a midfield change arrived, he did nothing. No substitution board. No gentle easing him back. Just trust.

Another manager might have wrapped Lavia in cotton wool and hooked him early. Alonso went the other way. He decided that the real benefit lay in pushing through the discomfort, in letting Lavia feel his legs turn to jelly as the clock ticked into stoppage time – and proving to him that he could handle it.

Lavia did exactly that. He stayed on, saw out the 90, and when the whistle went, his team-mates rallied around their exhausted colleague. It wasn’t a trophy, it wasn’t even a competitive fixture, but inside that dressing room it meant something.

Then came the reward. A dozen boxes from nearby Pizza Marzano were delivered straight into Chelsea’s dressing room, a light-hearted payoff to a serious step in Lavia’s road back.

Chelsea now move from pre-season storylines to the sharp edge of the Premier League. For Lavia, though, one of the most important battles of his season might already have been won – in Jakarta, on tired legs, with pizza waiting at the end.