Enzo Maresca admits he is concerned about the risk of Chelsea players getting injured on an artificial pitch when they take on Djurgarden in Stockholm on Thursday.
Chelsea are facing the Swedish club at the 3Arena in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League semi-final. Some of the Chelsea players looked unimpressed as they tested the artificial surface during a gentle training session on Wednesday night.
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Chelsea take on Premier League champions Liverpool on Sunday in a game they need to win to keep up their bid to secure a top five finish and a qualifying place for the Champions League.
Maresca said: “For sure it can be a concern. I’m a little bit worried about that. But we are not in a moment where we can say we decide to save players for Sunday. This is a semi-final, it’s a European competition and we want to be in the final.
“It’s completely different (playing on an artificial pitch). I know that in the last weeks even some of their players were complaining about the pitch. They play every week, so for us it’s a different one.
“But there are no excuses, no reasons why we are not going to compete tomorrow and the second game at all.”
Chelsea trained at the 3Arena on Wednesday (Caisa Rasmussen/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
Maresca also believes the 2-1 home defeat to Legia Warsaw in the previous round could serve as a useful wake-up call not to take Djurgarden, who are currently 11th in Sweden’s top division, lightly.
Chelsea were booed off by their own fans after being defeated by Legia Warsaw in the second leg of their quarter final despite progressing through to the last four 4-2 on aggregate. Captain Reece James said afterwards that their display had “disrespected the competition”.
When asked if any lessons were learned, Maresca added: ”Don’t take nothing for granted. I don’t think we disrespected the competition, but for sure that game was not our best game.
“Probably the reason why is because you win 0-3 away and in three days, we played Fulham away. So we were also trying to manage the players a little bit and the first result. But it’s good that happened. Because hopefully it’s not going to happen again.”
Chelsea are without keeper Robert Sanchez and striker Christopher Nkunku after they sustained injuries against Everton and in training respectively. Maresca confirmed Nkunku will have further tests and and will know the severity of the problem by the end of the week.
(Top photo: Caisa Rasmussen/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
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