Enzo Maresca press conference: Chelsea boss on Conference League, injuries, Cole Palmer

Hello and welcome to football.london for live coverage of Enzo Maresca's pre-match press conference in Copenhagen this evening.

The Chelsea head coach will take on the media ahead of his side’s UEFA Conference League round of 16 first-leg with Copenhagen tomorrow (Thursday) evening. The Blues dominated the league phase of this competition but have not played a game in Europe since December.

With this being Chelsea's only chance of winning a trophy this season, there is added significance that now lies on this competition for the west Londoners. The Blues will be at the Parken Stadium tomorrow for the first-leg of the tie before next week's match at Stamford Bridge.

We are live at Parken right now with the press conference due to begin at 6:15pm local time (5:15pm GMT). You can follow every word Maresca has to say in our dedicated live blog below.

Key Events

• Enzo is here17:30
• Welcome07:08

17:41Bobby Vincent

That's all

That is all we have time for. A full transcript will be online soon.

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17:40Bobby Vincent

Badiashile and Chalobah return

They are both ready. Trev was not something serious so he is OK. Benoit has been training in the past 10 days, probably even more. Wes is not in the squad but he is back. Romeo has started to train with us in the last two days. Slowly but surely we are getting players back and ready for the final bit of the season. We said already a few times, unfortunately our bad moment started with the amount of injuries but some of them are already back and in the process to be back. It is a huge boost for me and for the players.

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17:39Bobby Vincent

Copenhagen manager

As I said, the team plays very nice football. It's a team that always tries to control the game. I watched the Conference League games, the games in the league and they try to control and dominate the game every time. There is a clear idea. They have a good mix [of players]. Up front, they have good players and in the midfield they have experienced players like Delaney. They are a good team.

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17:38Bobby Vincent

Elyounoussi being left out of Copenhagen squad

This is a question for them and not for me. Nothing to say. For us, it's a competition and we are going to try and do our best.

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17:37Bobby Vincent

First game as manager in European knockout games

We try game after game, to be focused on what we can do better, since we started. Not only the game, but the training sessions. The main focus is helping players improve. The preparation is exactly the same as we prepare Southampton, how we will prepare Leicester and the rest of the games. It's not 90 minutes, it's 180 minutes, so it's a bit different. You can manage a little bit different.

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17:36Bobby Vincent

Palmer form

In terms of numbers, I mean goals and assists, but I'm happy with the way Cole is, even in the last game or Villa away. I know in some moments, he wasn't always going to score, it's normal.

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17:35Bobby Vincent

Palmer inclusion in the squad

It was planned. We planned that at the beginning of the season, to try and give him more rest. The plan was exactly this plan.

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17:35Bobby Vincent

Copenhagen – what has he seen from the team?

It's very clear what they try to do, on the ball especially, also off the ball. They are already a long time together. I was here three years ago with City playing in this stadium in the group, so I know the environment. It's nice to watch them play, nice football, it will be a tough game.

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17:34Bobby Vincent

Palmer – can we expect to see him tomorrow?

Since we started, all the decisions we took are all trying to protect players. With Cole and Wes, Romeo exactly the same. Now we have Premier League games and Conference League games that are all important. We can change players in the squad, for instance we added Cole for the final part of the season. If he is in the squad, he can play minutes, no doubt. Cole is always happy to play games, even training sessions.

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17:32Bobby Vincent

Goalkeeper situation

Robert starts tomorrow, yes. In this moment, I think he already played Brighton away in the FA Cup and then he didn't play in the Premier League. Tomorrow he is going to play and we'll see. It's a matter to give him different kind of games to try and help him.

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17:31Bobby Vincent

Strong squad taken to Denmark

From now on, all the Conference League games and all the Premier League games are all important. We are going to take one by one until the end, trying to win as many games as possible.

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17:31Bobby Vincent

On Copenhagen

A very good team, they are doing great in the league and also in the Conference. They have a very good manager, a very good team. They play nice football, so it will be a good game.

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17:30KEY EVENT

Enzo is here

Updates to follow…

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16:46Bobby Vincent

In location

Parken Stadium for Enzo Maresca’s presser, due to start in 30 minutes. #CFCpic.twitter.com/cSiPWkjdch

— Bobby Vincent (@BobbyVincentFL) March 5, 2025

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KEY EVENT

Welcome

Hello and welcome to our dedicated live blog of Enzo Maresca's pre-match press conference.

Chelsea get their knockout phase underway tomorrow evening right here at the Parken Stadium as they take on Copenhagen in the first-leg of their round of 16 tie.

The Blues welcome the Danish side back to Stamford Bridge in eight days' time but will be hoping to lay down a marker and make a statement to the rest of the teams in the competition tomorrow night.

Maresca is due to face the media from 5:15pm GMT and you can follow every word the Italian has to say right here.

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