'Changed the plan' - Why Estevao was snubbed by Enzo Maresca during Chelsea’s defeat to Atalanta | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca admitted that he had considered substituting Estevao on during Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League defeat to Atalanta, but changed his mind after Wesley Fofana's injury.

At least two of Chelsea's four substitutions in the game were clearly planned ahead of the game.

Maresca pointed out how he decided to take both Trevoh Chalobah and Enzo Fernandez off because these two had already played almost every minute for Chelsea, especially in the last few weeks.

Chalobah's yellow card in the first half against Atalanta likely convinced Maresca to replace him with Wesley Fofana even earlier at half-time.

Similarly, Pedro Neto is also among Chelsea's most-used players this season and was later replaced by Alejandro Garnacho.

The last substitute to get on the pitch was Tosin Adarabioyo, and this one was not tactical, since he came on for the injured Fofana.

IMAGO / NurPhoto

Maresca claimed that this is why he decided against deploying Estevao in the game.

"The idea of Tosin's (substitution) was because we needed to change Wes, so that was a little bit enforced," the Italian said in his post-match press conference.

"For sure, with one more change, there was a chance for Estevao to go inside or for Andrey (Santos).

"But with (Tosin's substitution), that changed the plan of the game a little bit."

IMAGO / Gonzales Photo

It is hard to tell how exactly an injury substitution stopped Maresca from using his last one to deploy another attacker.

Chelsea desperately needed fresh legs up front, especially after Atalanta's 83rd-minute eventual winner. However, it was Atalanta who made the last two substitutions in the game to strengthen their defence.

Bear in mind that even if Maresca did not see Estevao as the answer, he still had other attackers on the bench, such as Marc Guiu and Tyrique George, who could have made a difference with their goalscoring abilities.