Chelsea 1 Legia Warsaw 2 (agg 4-2): Enzo Maresca’s bafflingly strong XI stumbles into semi-final with embarrassing loss
ENZO MARESCA’S bid to win over the Chelsea fans went up in smoke.
The Italian head coach packed his team to the hilt with A-List stars in an attempt to deliver a display of determination and re-energise Stamford Bridge after a series of turgid performances.
But even though the Blues are through to the semi finals of the Conference League they were beaten on the night by the fifth best team in Poland.
It marks their first home defeat of 2025 and the first in the main draw of UEFA’s C-List tournament – which Chelsea are expected to win comfortably.
Plumes of smoke from flares ignited in the away end covered the pitch during the second half. But there was no hiding place for Maresca’s £1 billion squad as they were humbled.
Even though they are comfortably into the last four on aggregate, the result has done nothing to ease the growing tension on the terraces from fans sometimes angry but mainly bored by Maresca’s tactics.
The sluggish tempo and tip toeing around their own box led to jeers from a crowd demanding more gusto – and not Malo the right back.
Were it not for the constant throb of chanting from 1,000 shirtless Poles, the atmosphere inside Stamford Bridge would have been flat at best, angry at worst at another let down of an evening out.
Maresca went for it with his line-up. Skipper Reece James, England star Cole Palmer, lead striker Nicolas Jackson, Euro 2024 winner Marc Cucurella.
All included in the starting XI and nobody was quite sure whether it was for target practice ahead of Sunday’s trip to Fulham, or as punishment for last Sunday’s dismal showing against Ipswich.
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But while Chelsea are struggling for conviction in the Premier League, Europe is a different matter entirely.
The level of opposition has enabled Maresca to make drastic rotations to his squad and mainly use his second string.
That all changed last night with the more heavyweight line up.
And it quickly became apparent that Maresca’s main driver was a bid to sharpen up his troops for the run in to the domestic season.
After just a minute, Palmer was through one on one yet skewed his shot to the left of goal and should have done better.
Four minutes later he missed again with a stooping header, although this was more the fault of team-mate Jadon Sancho for squaring the ball instead of shooting when within range of goal.
And Chelsea’s problems this season were soon evident again in microcosm. Having been totally in charge for the opening ten minutes and created two chances, they fell behind.
Warsaw’s first foray into the home area saw keeper Filip Jorgensen haul down midfielder forward Tomas Pekhart, with the Spanish ref awarding a penalty.
The former Southampton player calmly thumped the ball into the back of the net from 12 yards.
With Chelsea enjoying a commanding 3-0 first leg lead, there was no panic and even subdued celebrations from the boisterous visiting fans.
Sancho finally threaded a perpendicular ball through in the 31st minute when he squared through the box for Cucurella to divert the ball in from seven yards out to get Chelsea back on level terms on the night.
Yet there is something fragile about Maresca’s team – even his first choice one. And with the fans getting on the players’ backs like they did on Sunday, they wilted again.
And that gifted Warsaw a golden chance to regain the lead eight minutes into the second half.
From a corner, Chelsea failed to clear their lines and a rebounding shot into the danger area from Claud Goncalves found its way to the head of unmarked Steve Kapaudi to simply nod past Jorgensen.
The goal was the cue for dozens of flares to light up the away end.
Sub Noni Madueke injected some life on the flank and had a shot cleared off the line, fellow sub Tyrique George’s follow up squirmed under the keeper but was hooked off the line by goalscorer Kapaudi.
For a while the pitch was shrouded in choking white mist, shrouding the action as Maresca’s team tried to up the ante against the grey clouds of frustration overhanging the home fans.
When it cleared Chelsea were still labouring against far inferior opposition as they have done too often this season in all competitions.