Image source: REUTERS/David Klein
Chelsea will also be deprived of their winger Pedro Neto as they head to Azerbaijan to play Qarabag in Wednesday night in Baku Champions League game. According to Manager Enzo Maresca, Neto is on rest as a precautionary measure because he complained that in the 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday, he experienced tightness in his calf.
Maresca minimized that there is anything to worry about and it is all about the club being cautious of the Portuguese star.
It is not a big problem, only a minor issue. On Tuesday, the coach said he was protecting him. He has nothing to do with tomorrow.
The demanding travel timetable was also observed by the Chelsea boss as the club would have to travel almost 5,000 miles round trip to Baku, and then come back to London early in the morning on Friday, only to play a match on the Saturday night in the Premier League against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
We will have to change some of the players, added Maresca. It is a long way and we have to make the best of it.
Chelsea, who are seventh in the Premier League, will be hoping to secure the three-match consecutive win in the champions league after they recovered their initial loss to Bayern Munich, by winning Benfica and Ajax. Chelsea and Qarabag are both on six points in the group and hence Wednesday will be a significant match.
Maresca commended the great shape Qarabag have been in this season as they have beaten Benfica and Copenhagen and lost to Athletic Bilbao by a narrow margin.
It will be a hard game all right, on other grounds.
He also paused to acknowledge the long time coach of Qarabag Gurban Gurbanov who has led the Azerbaijan champions to 11 league titles since he came to the club in 2008.
Maresca commented that seventeen years in one club is unbelievable. It is not something that you see in football.
Injury wise, Maresca affirmed that the groin problem still afflicts midfielder Cole Palmer and he has not resumed full training. It is hoped that he could be back in action by the time the domestic match vs Barcelona on November 25, and that a defender Benoit Badiashile would come back to action after the next international break.
Chelsea will be under the gun with a hectic schedule and long commute to make but Maresca believes their winning streak in Europe can continue.
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