Evening Standard
·16 octobre 2025
Who will be on the touchline for Chelsea against Nottingham Forest after Enzo Maresca ban?

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Yahoo sportsEvening Standard
·16 octobre 2025
Blues boss won’t be in dugout at the City Ground after sending off for celebrations during last-gasp win over Liverpool
Banned: Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca was handed a one-match touchline suspension by the FA
Action Images via Reuters
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Enzo Maresca will be absent from the Chelsea dugout when they return to Premier League action against Nottingham Forest this weekend.
The Blues kick off matchday eight with a Saturday lunchtime trip to the City Ground following the latest international break, having defied an injury crisis to record a dramatic last-gasp win over reigning champions Liverpool at Stamford Bridge last time out.
It’s also a potentially crucial game for Ange Postecoglou, whose future as Forest boss is already subject to doubt after failing to win any of his first seven fixtures in charge since succeeding the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo last month, losing five amid links between the club and the likes of Marco Silva and Sean Dyche.
Chelsea’s hopes of only a second top-flight away win of the season so far that would make it three victories on the spin across all competitions and four in their last five since an earlier wobble, taking them from seventh up into the top four, will not be helped by having their head coach missing from the dugout.
Wild celebrations: Maresca received a second yellow card following Estevao Willian’s last-gasp winner for Chelsea against Liverpool
REUTERS
Having been booked earlier in the game, Maresca received a second yellow card from referee Anthony Taylor following Estevao Willian’s 95th-minute winner against Liverpool, after he sprinted down the touchline to join in the wild celebrations with his players.
It has since been confirmed that the Italian will serve a one-match touchline ban after admitting a Football Association (FA) misconduct charge and being fined £8,000, to be served at the City Ground this weekend.
With Maresca missing, Chelsea’s coaching team will instead be led at Forest by his assistant, the former Chelsea and Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero, who performed post-match media duties following the Liverpool game with the manager not permitted to do so after his sending off.
Caballero will be assisted by first-team coaches Danny Walker and Roberto Vitiello. Michele de Bernardin is Chelsea’s goalkeeper coach, with Maresca’s backroom staff completed by fitness coach Marcos Alvarez and analysts Javi Molina and Bernardo Cueva.
In charge: Willy Caballero will be the lead man in the dugout for Chelsea during their trip to face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground
Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Speaking at the Festival dello Sport in his native Italy earlier this week, Maresca suggested that his sending off was worth it for having that memorable moment with his players.
“It’s a great feeling. This is my second season at the club, but we’d never won in the last minute at home before,” he said. “The reaction that led to the sending off was instinctive, but maybe it was worth it.
“We’re talking about one of the biggest clubs in the world, one that has struggled in recent years for various reasons.
“When I first signed, I felt the pressure of being the only Italian not to have won here (in Italy), but fortunately it hasn’t gone that way. Bringing this club back to the top is a very satisfying feeling.”
Maresca will be back on the Chelsea touchline for Wednesday’s visit of Ajax in the Champions League, which is followed by Sunderland heading to west London in the Premier League.
Despite his touchline ban at the City Ground, FA rules dictate that Maresca can “communicate with the dugout by telephone, a ‘runner’ or any other electronic device such as a radio or mobile phone”.
He is also allowed to be in the dressing room before kick-off, at half-time and full-time, while he can also conduct pre and post-match interviews.
Maresca will be required to sit in the directors’ box, or if a seat is not available there then he must position himself in the “stand away from opposition supporters and away from the vicinity of the technical area”.
He cannot shout instructions to the players or dugout or be on the touchline before, during or after the game, while he also cannot attempt to make contact with match officials, assessors or match delegates at any time.