Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca’s fears came true but the Blues did just about enough to avoid a disastrous European exit.
Maresca defended Chelsea’s stuttering progress into the Europa Conference League after a humbling 2-1 defeat at Servette as the Blues lost in Geneva but prevailed 3-2 on aggregate, by virtue of winning last week’s first leg 2-0.
Chelsea’s early lead came through Christopher Nkunku’s penalty only to fall behind after goals from Jeremy Guillemenot and Enzo Crivelli. The Blues spurned a host of chances, and had to call for the cavalry in the form of Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson from the bench to ensure they squeezed through to the qualification play-off round.
Although it was obvious his rotated line-up was struggling for conviction on the road, Maresca insisted he was happy with the outcome, if not the process, in Switzerland.
“I think the first half an hour we scored a goal and had three or four more chances, and if we were able to score then the game was finished because it would have been 2-0,” said Maresca.
“And then we conceded a goal and it’s normal to suffer a little bit. I said yesterday, but I was very, very worried about this game because they are tricky games.
“For them, it’s probably the game of their season. Against us, the pitch is not great, the environment, it’s 30 degrees and I was very worried about the condition of the game.
“On and off the ball, the team was very aggressive. We created four or five chances in the first-half and if we score, the game is finished. Then it is football, they score and it’s a boost for them. But in the end, we deserved it, so we are happy.”
Having barely avoided a banana skin slip up, Chelsea must now roll the Europa Conference League group stage into an already congested fixture list, but Maresca insisted the Blues will throw their full resources at the competition.
Asked where their European endeavours rank amid Chelsea’s priorities this term, the Italian boss replied: “It is a competition where we are going to try and do our best in. I think tonight, once again, the team shows in the way we started that the team was there. Then the game, we concede; they had some chances and we lost a little bit of confidence.
“But overall, even in the second-half I am now thinking a bit that I remember three times one-on-one with the goalkeeper. In the end, if we are able to take the chances, especially in the first-half when we are 1-0 up, if we are able to score the second one then the game is finished.
“It’s one more competition. We have Conference League, Premier League, FA Cup, the Carabao Cup – they are all competitions where we are going to try and do our best and then we will see where we arrive.”