Enzo maresca fumes over 'unfair' chelsea fixture situation after late change

CHELSEA FACE NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON SUNDAY KNOWING VICTORY WILL SECURE THEM A PLACE IN THE TOP FOUR AND THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NEXT SEASON. BUT ENZO MARESCA INSISTS ALL EYES ARE ON THE CITY

GROUND AHEAD OF THE BETIS FINAL ALAN SMITH Chief football writer and STUART JAMIESON Football Content Editor 15:22, 20 May 2025 Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has expressed his discontent

over the fact that his team has been given 48 hours less to prepare for the UEFA Conference League final against Real Betis. Chelsea's final Premier League match of the season is

against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, while Betis' last La Liga game against Valencia has been rescheduled to Friday, allowing them extra rest before the final. All Premier League

matches will be played at 4pm on Sunday, to ensure no side has any advantage on the last day of the season. However, Maresca feels the decision to allow Betis to move their La Liga game will

hamper Chelsea's hopes for next week's final. "I'm not happy, 100%," he said. "You cannot allow a team 48 hours more than the other team when you play in a

European competition final. So you think you should be allowed to play on Friday or they play Sunday like us. "I don't know if it's from La Liga, from the Premier League or

from UEFA. If I ask you if it's normal to play a final when a team has 48 hours more than the other team, it is not normal, it's not something correct. Now, if it's the UEFA,

La Liga or the Premier League, I don't know." Article continues below Although Maresca's immediate focus is on the match against Nottingham Forest, he has already decided that

Filip Jorgensen will start in goal for the Conference League final, rather than Robert Sanchez, as Jorgensen has played throughout the competition, reports the Mirror. "Filip is going

to play in the final," Maresca said. "Because he played all the competition. So it's unfair now that you are already in the final and he's not playing in the final. So

for the Betis game it will be Filip plus 10 players. I don't know which ones, the other 10 there, but for sure Filip is going to play because he deserves to play that final.

"It's very important, first of all because you need to build a winning mentality and you cannot win the Europa League or the Champions League if you are in the Conference. You are

in that competition and you have to be focused to win that competition. Article continues below "For sure this season helped the players to win games, and it's the only way to

build a winning mentality. And now we are close to the last step and hopefully we can win the title."