Chelsea head into Tuesday night’s Champions League clash against Barcelona full of confidence after their 2-0 Premier League win over Burnley, a result that saw them climb to second on the table and extended their impressive domestic form. Enzo Maresca’s side will now aim to carry that momentum into Europe as they prepare for one of their biggest games of the season.
Cole Palmer’s situation remained a major talking point. As Softfootball previously reported, the forward broke his toe at home, pushing back his recovery timeline and ruling him out of the Barcelona encounter. Despite that, Maresca confirmed Palmer has already returned to the pitch and begun light ball work, a promising sign for his eventual comeback.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference shared via Chelsea’s official youtube page, Maresca addressed injuries, the strength of Barcelona, the challenge of a huge week ahead, and the growth of key players in his squad
When asked whether Cole Palmer could join training sooner because of his protective boot, Maresca said:
Yeah, we don’t know when, but for sure it will be soon. He’s already in pitch, he’s already touching the ball, so I think it’s good.
He was also asked whether Palmer could potentially face Arsenal on Sunday with the help of that boot, and Maresca responded:
We are here for tomorrow’s game, that is the Champions League game, and then after that tomorrow we start to think about Arsenal.
Pressed again on whether he was ruling Palmer out of the Arsenal match despite not wanting to discuss it, he added:
“I don’t think so at the moment.
Do you know more details about what happened?
Maresca then explained how much he knows about Palmer’s injury at this stage:
The last time I spoke about Cole was in the last press conference, and the last time I spoke to Cole was yesterday, just after the session, to ask how he was feeling. Again, it was a good feeling, but I didn’t ask him details about the injury at all.
When asked how big this week is for Chelsea facing both Barcelona and Arsenal, Maresca said:
It’s a big week, as you said, but at the end of this week, then we have Leeds away, Bournemouth away, Atalanta away, so it’s another big one. It’s always a big week, they are all important games, at the end of every game is three points, for sure there are games like Barcelona tomorrow and Arsenal Sunday that are important for different reasons, but actually the best thing for us is to win the game.
On what Barcelona lose without Pedri and how important Enzo Fernández is to Chelsea, he replied:
Of course Barcelona loses to Pedri, not only to Barcelona, but also to football, because of the quality of the football, which I think is incredible. Then about Enzo Fernandez, since I arrived here I have always considered him a fundamental and important player, at the beginning it took him a while to understand what he had to do, but then he has become an important player for us on the field.
Asked if Estevão can be as influential for Chelsea as Lamine Yamal has been for Barcelona, Maresca was clear:
Estevao can be, he is going to be for sure an important player for this club for the future no doubt, now again for me personally the most important thing for Estevao is that he has to enjoy football, he has to be happy, he has not to think about being better than this player or the other player, he has just to be better than himself day by day, try to work hard, improve. Again for sure, he is going to be a top player for this club.
You can catch the full Marseca pre game interview shared via the club’s official Youtube page alongside left back and key player Marc Cucurella as they both share their thoughts on what to expect tomorrow against Barcelona. Watch full video below:
With confidence high and belief growing under Maresca, Chelsea now have a golden chance to make a big statement in Europe. A victory over Barcelona would underline their status as genuine contenders, and show just how far this young, evolving squad has come.
