Roberto Di Matteo and Frank Lampard admitted the Champions League game against FC Nordsjaelland was a lot more difficult than the end result of 4-0 suggested.
Juan Mata scored the opening goal in the first half, before Chelsea had to quell a wave of attacks from the Danish champions, who impressed everyone with their slick passing and possession capabilities.
David Luis's goal in the 80th minute, however, settled the game, with Mata and Ramires adding two more in the final ten minutes, as Nordsjaelland's inexperience on the European front came to the fore.
"We expected a difficult game and that's how it turned out," Di Matteo said. "We were a little bit slow out of the blocks, we still had chances to score, we scored one and had a couple of other chances.
"The second goal was important, we were much better and sharper in the second half and once we scored that second we knew we were going to win the game.
"I expected a difficult game. No matter what, they try to play their football, but it's not easy. There are no pushovers, you see that from other results, the Champions League is difficult.
"The most important aspect for us was to win, the fact we scored four and kept a clean sheet means it was an excellent result for us. Every game is different, it's a difficult competition and away from home it's not easy."
Lampard agreed with the manager's assessment. "It was a great result for us, it was a tough game," Lampard told Sky Sports. "They were a bit of an unknown but we know they played good football and we had to bide our time, we put the hard work in and all the goals came at the end.
"We were a little bit (concerned) because this is Champions League football, there are no easy games and at 1-0 they created a few half-chances, hit the post in the second half, but once we got the second goal that was it and we dominated from there on."
Petr Cech made a couple of vital saves in last weekend's crucial 2-1 win over Arsenal, and Chelsea had to thank the Czech international goalkeeper again, as his big hand palmed a strike onto the post, when Chelsea were only leading 1-0.
"Cech made a crucial save in the game, when its 1-0 it's always dangerous, they commited players forward and that's how football is," Di Matteo said.
"We were looking for the second to close the game, they were down and they tried to go forward with a lot of players, they had one good chance and a couple of half decent ones."
Di Matteo is convinced Group E will be decided between his team, Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk after the Ukrainian side held Juve to a 1-1 draw in Turin.
"As I said before, it's a difficult group, Shakhtar are a very good team and I imagine it will be a contest between the three sides," Di Matteo added.
