This could be true, but it could as well be not true. If Chelsea plays in the UCL, it is sometimes said because that challenge is so hard, all competitions they take part in will suffer from it. But it could actually benefit them overall. If they are challenged by tough opponents continuously, this can sharpen their focus and give them a different perspective on themselves.
Look, if they play in the Conference League against Budapest and then play Manchester City in the EPL three days later, is that good or bad? I don't know, but I think if they play one of the best teams like Barcelona on a Wednesday and they play well and perhaps win, I think the boost in confidence is multiple times higher than it would be if they had beaten Budapest a couple of days before.
Palmer is in excellent condition and he will be the key player for them. It's great to see how he improved himself so quickly.
We are looking at every side but we are ignoring one good side of what Chelsea did to win the Club world cup. They did finish PSG in the final no doubt about that performance but if they have face some opponent that were eliminated in the knockout, in the quarter finals and semi final, no way they are going to reach the final, the battle would have been difficult than this and that's exactly how the Champions League is going to look like later, if they are found in tough group, they may not go far.
No matter how we might want to sugarcoat their performance, Chelsea can't do better in all of this. It's going to be a tough season, there is going to be smooth ride with some weeks and some weeks are going to be difficult. There are teams that didn't make any trophiesast season, they will come back with full force because they want to win something, some aren't even in Champions league, so it's obvious they are going to be playing with target and focus while Chelsea has alot on their neck.