Chelsea's head coach, Enzo Maresca, has attributed their recent Champions League draw against Qarabag to the lingering effects of the Club World Cup, which concluded just five weeks before the start of the Premier League season. The Blues, who traveled over 2,500 miles to Baku, Azerbaijan, appeared sluggish, ultimately drawing 2-2 with their opponents.
Maresca made seven changes to the team that defeated Tottenham over the weekend, citing the need to rest key players who are unable to consistently perform at their peak every three days. "The intention was to rest Moises (Caicedo), Enzo (Fernandez), Malo (Gusto) and more players," Maresca stated. He emphasized the impact of the Club World Cup, stating, "They are not able to play every three days. The Club World Cup affected a lot". He further added, "We tried to rotate. When we win, nobody mentions that but when we don't, everyone is focused on that".
The match saw Estevao Willian give Chelsea an early lead in the 16th minute, only for Qarabag to respond with goals from Leandro Andrade and a Marko Jankovic penalty. Alejandro Garnacho's second-half goal salvaged a point for Chelsea, preventing an embarrassing defeat.
Maresca lamented his team's inability to capitalize on their early lead and pointed to defensive lapses that allowed Qarabag to gain momentum. "Today, we started the right way, scored the goal but then we conceded two, the first one when they had 10 players," Maresca said. "We can avoid both goals. In their box, we need to be more clinical".
Adding to Chelsea's woes, Romeo Lavia was forced off the pitch early due to injury. Maresca expressed his disappointment, saying, "We feel a shame for him, especially for him". "He's not able to be fit for a long, long period. We will see now. It's too early to understand what kind of injury. I think it's his quad".
Despite the draw, Qarabag have proven to be a tough opponent in the Champions League this season. They previously defeated Benfica 3-2 and Copenhagen 2-0. To mitigate the effects of the time difference, Chelsea's players were kept on UK time while in Baku ahead of their Premier League match against Wolves.
