If the Chelsea players who have travelled to Belarus for today’s Europa League game needed a reminder not to take anything for granted, they had only to watch one of this week’s Champions League matches reckons Mateo Kovacic.
The Croatian was performing media duties in Minsk, where the squad is staying before travelling for about an hour to Borisov for the game. He was asked about Liverpool’s Tuesday night match when the Reds surprisingly lost 2-0 away to Red Star Belgrade, having beaten the Serbians 4-0 at Anfield a fortnight earlier.
This week Chelsea also face the same opposition we hosted in our previous European game, when we won 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, and a victory in this rematch guarantees our place in the knockout stages.
‘I watched the game yesterday,’ said Kovacic when asked about the Liverpool result.
‘They struggled a lot because in Belgrade the atmosphere is tough and it is difficult to play there, like here will be as well. Very difficult, and these are games where you need to concentrate a lot because if you do not then you lose the game, so tomorrow we need to be prepared so what happened yesterday does not happen to us.
‘We are in a perfect mood,’ he reported. ‘We are doing good in our league and we are doing good in all competitions so this team wants to play football, we enjoy it, and every game we have an opportunity to show ourselves, so tomorrow we will be prepared and give our best to win the game.’
The 24-year-old was asked if it bothers him that despite the results some say Chelsea are not playing at full potential and to the standard exhibited by some of our rivals.
‘That is a good thing because we are still unbeaten and we have not played at our highest level,’ he pointed out. ‘We are with the coach only three months and of course it needs time to understand completely and to work on his football. I think we are doing a great job and I am sure in every training and every game we will be better and better.’
Kovacic pointed out that Man City under Pep Guardiola struggled in their first season together before adding, ‘So it is a difficult question. I don’t know, but I think we are doing good because the team is a great talent and we can already do a great season this year.’
Eden Hazard will benefit from featuring in today's Europa League fixture against BATE Borisov, according to Maurizio Sarri, who also explained why Alvaro Morata and Cesc Fabregas have remained in the UK as he addressed the media in Belarus.
Hazard, who had missed the previous three matches, was introduced in the second half of Sunday’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace, with the Belgian providing the assist for our second goal just a minute after coming on.
The attacker is part of a 19-man squad who have travelled to Belarus, and Sarri provided his reasons for including him in the group.
‘According to our doctor there is not any risk, otherwise he would have stayed at Cobham, of course,’ said Sarri, whose team will guarantee our progression to the next round with a victory tomorrow. ‘We felt that for him it’s better to play, not for 90 minutes, but to play after two weeks of not playing.
‘In the last match he played only for 30 minutes. The best way for him is that tomorrow he will play for 45 or 50 minutes.’
One player who hasn’t made the trip is Morata, scorer of a brace against Roy Hodgson’s side, with the striker having now netted four goals in as many Premier League matches.
The fact the Spaniard has been heavily involved of late played a big part in Sarri’s decision to leave him behind, and the Blues boss provided some insight into the type of training Morata will be doing at Cobham.
‘No, I think exactly the opposite,’ replied Sarri, when asked if Morata’s impressive form meant it would be wiser to continue to select him.
‘Morata stayed at Cobham just to rest and to have training because he played very often in the last period.
‘I think it’s better for him to stay fit, with two or three training sessions, than only with matches. It’s normal for a player to play three matches and then rest for one, otherwise we could have a squad with only 13 or 14 players.
‘Sometimes it’s better for the players to train rather than just play, to train on some particular physical qualities. If they only play they will lose that physical quality they need, and that’s been proved scientifically over a 21-day period.
‘Today he had intense aerobic training, with five-second, 10-second, 15-second and 20-second active recovery and passive recovery. We don’t use any weights, it’s all natural work that we do in the gym. Have you ever seen a player with a weight on the pitch?’
Marcos Alonso, David Luiz, Toni Rudiger and Victor Moses have also remained in the UK, and they have been joined by Fabregas, who was initially scheduled to be involved tomorrow.
‘The only problem is Cesc,’ said Sarri. ‘This morning he had a fever and has had to stay at Cobham, so we called N’Golo Kante.’
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