Enzo Maresca fears Djurgarden‘s pitch could derail Chelsea’s season, as he frets over injuries to his star names in Thursday’s Conference League semi-final.
The Blues are in Stockholm for the first leg of the tie, which will be played at the Swedish capital’s 3Arena.
The stadium’s artificial surface has come under heavy criticism in recent weeks, including from within the Djurgarden ranks, with striker August Priske describing it as “s***ty” and manager Jani Honkavaara branding it “horrible”.
“It’s completely different,” Maresca said after arriving at the 3Arena on Wednesday night. “I know that in the last weeks even some of their players were complaining about the pitch.
We cannot save players for Sunday. This is a semi-final, it’s a European competition and we want to be in the final
“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’s players could be seen testing the low bounce on the unusual surface as they trained on Wednesday evening.
Of greater concern to Maresca, though, is the threat of injuries on the pitch, with his team not only chasing Conference League glory but also a return to the Champions League via a top-five finish in the Premier League.
The Blues host champions Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in a crucial game on Sunday but, with a place in a European final on the line, Maresca insists he cannot afford to wrap his players in cotton wool.
“For sure, it can be a concern,” he admitted. “I’m a little bit worried about that [injuries]. 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 have been red-hot favourites for the Conference League since the competition began but suffered their first defeat last time out when given a brief scare by Legia Warsaw.
The Blues were beaten 2-1 in the second leg at Stamford Bridge, but advanced 4-2 on aggregate and Maresca admitted the expectation is now on his side to finish the job.
“I don’t know if [it’s a] failure or disappointment, I don’t know how is the right word in English,” he said, when asked whether anything but victory in next month’s Wroclaw showpiece would be considered a failure. “But for sure now that we are in the semi-final, the next target is the final, and then once, if we are able to reach the final, we go for the title that personally for me is a big title.
“It’s a huge title, because it’s a European competition and we can give this club the opportunity to be the only club in the world to win all the European competitions. So, it’s also a responsibility for me, a responsibility for the players to get that.”
