Chelsea were unlucky to lose to Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday night.

Despite having two days' less rest than their opponents, the Blues put up a strong challenge and took the game all the way to a penalty shootout.

It was all in vain, though, as Tammy Abraham saw his penalty saved by Adrian to give Liverpool victory.

Chelsea's players were visibly knackered after extra-time and one man who was really struggling was N'Golo Kante.

The indefatigable Frenchman has only just returned from injury but started in central midfield in Istanbul and played the entire 120 minutes.

Indeed, at half-time in extra-time, he told manager Frank Lampard on the sidelines that his legs were shot.

"He's not trained that much," said Lampard in the interview below. "I've had to protect him because he's had four years where he's played and played and played.

"He had a pretty serious injury. He said to me at half-time in extra-time that he was finished and his legs were dead, and the next minute he's sprinting 50 yards again.

"We know how important he is to this club. I'm delighted to have him and you saw the input that he had tonight."

Kante sprinting 50 yards to defend despite having zero energy left is typical of the 28-year-old, who had a superb game against Liverpool.

Footage has emerged of the moment Lampard was talking about where Kante ran back to help stop an attack from Mohamed Salah. Check it out below.

What a machine. Even with dead legs Kante was able to halt Salah in his tracks and allow Chelsea's players to regroup.

That's why he's so important to the Blues, who may not have lost so heavily to Manchester United over the weekend had Kante been available from the start.

Luckily for Lampard, Chelsea's players have until Sunday to recover as they host Leicester City at Stamford Bridge.