Ahead of Chelsea’s UEFA Conference League semi-final against Swedish club Djurgården, Enzo Maresca has admitted to fears that the artificial pitch at the 3Arena could potentially cause injuries to the players.
Djurgården’s pitch has already been heavily criticised this season, so Maresca's fears are understandable when the Premier League side face the hosts on Thursday night.
Speaking ahead of the match, the Italian 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.”
Chelsea trained on the pitch on Wednesday night in an attempt to get used to it, but they were unimpressed when they tested the bounce of the ball, and Maresca acknowledged this by saying, “It’s completely different.”
“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 home.”
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What separates Chelsea and Djurgården
What separates Chelsea from their opponents on Thursday is not just their playing in different leagues, but also the massive financial gulf between them.
Chelsea is the richest club in this competition, and the expenditures on their squad go beyond anything that Djurgården could hope to afford. But Maresca was quick to highlight that it cannot be a cause for complacency when the two sides take the pitch.
“You don’t win games and titles with money,” Maresca said. “We know that very well. So it’s not about how much you spend. You are not going to win games or titles just because you spend big money. You have to spend money, but in the right way. We are now in the Conference League semi-final, we are fighting in our league, and hopefully we can finish better in both competitions.”
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