Chelsea £21m summer signing sends perfect Enzo Maresca message as Jadon Sancho reality clear

Never before did I think I would go to Heidenheim. As lovely, intriguing and peaceful the town is, it is probably a place I will not get the opportunity to come back to.

With a population of just 50,000, it was immediately evident something was going on in the German town. Pubs and bars were filled throughout the day on Wednesday and particularly Thursday.

Chelsea were in town. A classic UEFA Conference League away day. An opposition, with no disrespect intended to FC Heidenheim, many people knew very little about. However, the German club's rise, under long-serving manager Frank Schmidt, is inspirational.

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Successive promotions between 2007 and 2009 saw Heidenheim reach 3. Liga, Germany's third-tier. Schmidt's side took five years to get out of that league. And then in 2014, Heidenheim won the league title to achieve promotion to the second-tier.

Nine years then passed and they did the impossible: reach Bundesliga. The pinnacle of German football. In their debut season in the top-tier, an eighth-place finish saw them qualify for the Conference League - and the rest, they say, is history.

Arguably the biggest game in the club's history came on Thursday evening with Chelsea coming to Voith-Arena. Unfortunately for Heidenheim, the Blues' so-called 'B side' had too much for them in the end but it was a valiant effort nonetheless.

Anyway, enough about Heidenheim. Bobby Vincent brings you some of the big Chelsea-related talking points from Germany...

Jorgensen makes real claim

So far, Filip Jorgensen has not had too much to do when called upon by Enzo Maresca. The Danish goalkeeper is Chelsea's No.2 behind Robert Sanchez, who has started all of the Blues' Premier League games to date this season.

Jorgensen, signed in the summer for around £21million, played both Carabao Cup ties before Chelsea crashed out of the competition and has featured in every Conference League bout so far. However, the opposition have not been too strong, meaning Jorgensen, despite being in goal, has not had too much of an opportunity to prove himself and try and displace Sanchez.

Heidenheim, though, offered plenty of attacking threat on Thursday in front of their non-stop supporters, who were in brilliant voice throughout the 90 minutes. The hosts had 16 shots against Chelsea with 11 of them testing Jorgensen.

He made some fabulous saves on the night. The most impressive was a double save in the second-half. Paul Wanner saw his one-on-one fantastically stopped by the Dane before Leonardo Scienza followed up and also could not beat the goalkeeper. A truly remarkable moment for Jorgensen - and his best in a Chelsea shirt to date.

Sancho reality clear

It was fantastic to see Jadon Sancho back in the starting line-up. The 24-year-old made his first start for the Blues since the defeat to Liverpool last month and made a massive impact in Germany.

It was the ideal match for Sancho, too, who thrived trying to break down a low-block. Heidenheim did extremely well to get players behind the ball very quickly when Chelsea tried to attack them and that made it tricky for the visitors to penetrate through the Germans.

Sancho, though, is ideal for Chelsea when going against the low-block. What he offers in the final third is excellent. Sancho is so decisive and precise with his passes - which saw him get two assists on Thursday.

"Since we started, Jadon is very important to us," Maresca explained at full-time. "He is very important. He has to be fit, mentally and physically; he is going to help us a lot.

"Unfortunately, we did not use him in the last few games but he is showing now how important he is to us. Especially against the teams that defend in the low block, we need that quality in the last third. Sometimes he will shoot more but I think he is going to help us a lot."

Not Guiu's night

We have not seen too much of Marc Guiu in a Chelsea shirt. Whatever you think of him, you cannot deny he is a livewire. The Spaniard is everywhere all of the time.

The first 17 minutes of Thursday night's match in Heidenheim demonstrates exactly that. Guiu, who scored his first goal for Chelsea in the 8-0 win against FC Noah in the match day before this one, had five shots in the opening 17 minutes of the game.

At least two of them, he should have done a lot better with. Guiu is missing that clinical, deadly touch in front of goal. There is no doubt about that but he is just 18 years old and extremely raw.

The fact that he is so involved all of the time - and such a nuisance for defenders - is a really positive sign. No doubt.