At the beginning of the Europa Conference League this season, Chelsea did not fill the names of three players of the first team, Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana. There are people who need to be kept like Palmer, some people turn to turn lavia and the other or the injury is Fofana. Enzo Maresca used to own 47 players on the 1st team, so he easily divided personnel so that the Blues could compete in many arenas.
23:00 on 7.2 (GMT time), or 6pm on 8.2 (Vietnam time) is the deadline for the teams to add players in accordance with UEFA's regulations for the next knockout rounds (up to 3 people). Of the three players mentioned above, Chelsea only filled the name Cole Palmer. In addition, Maresca chose Trevoh Chalobah (recalled after lending Crystal Palace for 1 month) and Mathis Amougou (rookie from Saint-Etienne).
Among the Chelsea players who participated in the Conference League period, 5 names include: Axel Disasi, Renato Veiga, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and Joao Felix both left Stamford Bridge in the winter transfer period. Of these, 4 borrowed cases, Casadei alone has been sold off. Meanwhile, Mykhailo Mudryk is still on the list of 1st team but is temporarily suspended because of the case of using Meldonium banned substances.
This is the second season Cole Palmer playing for Chelsea. The former Man City striker is considered the No. 1 star team at this time. Currently, Palmer has 16 goals in all competitions from the beginning of the season, including 14 rivals in the Premier League.
At first, Maresca did not want Palmer to be overloaded, but when the intensity of the matches was reduced, the Italian coach targeted the Conference League. The European 3rd division tournament has entered the knockout round, so the remaining matches from now until the end of the tournament will be less than the qualifying stage.
Chelsea have set a record of winning all 6 matches in the Conference League qualifying round as Europe's top 3 tournaments have begun to change their format since this season. The Blues' opponents in the round of 16 are Gent, Real Betis, quarantine or Heidenheim. Of these 4 teams, Betis are rated the most, but if they are placed next to Chelsea, La Liga's representative is quite inferior.
Chelsea is like the destruction of the European 3rd player when their strength is too superior to the rest. The Blues ended the ranking round with 26 goals after 6 matches (on average more than 4 goals/match) and only conceded 5 times. With such overwhelming power, Maresca can let Palmer rest and focus on the Premier League. However, when he filled his student's name on the additional list, the 44 -year -old teacher certainly wanted to win.
With the current superior squad, as long as Chelsea are themselves, they will win the Conference League for the first time, thereby completing the collection of 3 European titles. Not only that, Chelsea may be aiming for a record of a full-scale win in this tournament on the way to raising the silver cup at the end of the season.
