Maresca stands by substitutions after Chelsea defeat

Enzo Maresca stood by his decision to take Trevoh Chalobah and Enzo Fernandez off during Chelsea’s Champions League defeat away to Atalanta.

The Blues led at half-time through Joao Pedro’s goal and looked solid, with Chalobah impressive at the back.

But the centre-back was on a yellow card, prompting head coach Maresca to substitute him.

Midfielder Fernandez was later taken off as well – and both changes seemed to upset the team’s balance, with the hosts coming from behind to win.

Maresca admitted that Chelsea “lost control” after Atalanta’s equaliser, but insisted Chalobah and Fernandez both needed to come off.

He explained: “Both changes were because Trev and Enzo, they are playing every minute of every game.

“They are both not 100% and Trev was on a yellow card. That is the reason why we changed them.”

A victory would have left Chelsea very much on course to secure a place in the last 16.

In order to do so without needing a play-off, they will probably now have to win both their remaining league-stage matches.

“Probably we need two wins. If we want to finish top eight, we need to win both,” Maresca said.

“After the (first) goal we conceded, we lost control. We lost concentration. We can avoid both of the goals we conceded.”