Enzo Maresca on his team selection, Lavia injury and ‘silly’ goals in draw with Qarabag | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca defended his decision to make seven changes in the 2-2 draw with Qarabag in Azerbaijan.

Despite taking an early lead through Estevao, the Blues went 2-1 down and needed an Alejandro Garnacho equaliser to secure a point in the Champions League clash.

On why his decision to rotate, Maresca said:” When we make changes it’s because the intention is always, because we think that the plan with the players that they start against is the correct one.

“We start in the right way, we score the goal and then, again, we concede two goals, especially in the first one with 10 players.

“So, for me the big difference today has been, especially in the second box, in our box, we concede two goals that we can avoid and in their box, for the amount of times that we are there, probably we can be more clinical.

“I think I’ve tried to explain already many times. The intention tonight was to rest Enzo [Fernandez], to rest Moises [Caicedo], to rest Malo [Gusto], to rest more players, because they are not able to play every three days.

“They need recovery from last season. As you said, the Club World Cup affects a lot. We try to rotate when you win, no one mentioned all that. I know that when we don’t win, everyone is focused on that and now I think it’s important to recover energy for Saturday and go again.”

Chelsea were also dealt another injury blow, with midfielder Romeo Lavia forced off after just eight minutes in another setback for the Belgian.

“We feel very ashamed especially for him because he’s not able to be fit for a long, long period,” Maresca said.

“We will see now as it’s too early to understand what kind of injury. Hopefully it’s not a big injury. I think it’s a quad injury.”

Maresca, meanwhile, blamed “silly” errors and a lack of clinical finishing on his side’s inability to win, adding: “The goals we conceded, they are silly goals, for me.

“In their box, for the amount of times that we arrived, we have not been clinical enough. So this is the big difference for me.”