Maresca's thoughts on the challenges Qarabag pose both on and off the pitch

There was a surprise amongst the media to see the Blues training a day before their champions league clash at Qarabag, with a five hour flight awaiting the Chelsea players, however, Blues boss Enzo Maresca explains the logic behind the pre-game plan as the Blues look to secure 3 points in Azerbaijan.

With their being a four hour time difference, comprised with a five hour flight time and a 5,000 mile road trip, the Blues journey to Azerbaijan always proving to be a logistical challenge for Maresca and his coaching staff , as they weave their way through plans for training and recovery around travelling. 

The Blues head coach feels as though he has found the right balance with Chelsea set to remain on English time despite being in the view of the Caspian Sea. When giving supporters further clarity on the Blues travelling arrangements, Maresca detailed how he has been able to manage his squad ahead of the clash with the Azerbaijan side on Wednesday night. 

Maresca went onto add that he used yesterday (Monday)  to recover against Tottenham, stating that it was important for them to be training at Cobham in order to be able to use the facilities for the players treatment whilst speaking at his lunch time pre-match press conference. 

If we went to Baku, it would not be the same so we need to try and balance the being ready for the game along with recovering our energy levels.

Maresca went onto state that "we know that we have a long flight  and that they are four hours ahead , we will arrive at 6am on Thursday morning and then have a game on Saturday night., but its the schedule and we will try to adapt".

With the Blues having competed their final training session before flying out to Baku, Maresca believes that his side will need to remain focused and be at their best to beat Qarabag a side which already has two wins in the competition.

Maresca went onto state that "Qarabag have won two games exactly like us in the champions league, they were also winning the game that they lost", he added.

They are very well organised team who display intensity in the way that they press. They are going to be a tough team . Especially at home, they are going to intense and so it will be a tough game. 

" They beat Benfica and Copenhagen, and were winning against Athletic Bilbao, however in the end they lost. He went onto add saying " I don't think it's about being the favourite or not. It's about the way we try to deal with all of the details of the game."