Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca appeared to place at least some of the blame for his team’s failure to beat Qarabağ in the Champions League on a hangover from this summer’s Club World Cup.
The Blues made the lengthy midweek trip to European football’s far eastern reaches, playing in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku on Wednesday night.
Chelsea were expected to win convincingly, only for Qarabağ to spring a surprise and claim a point—the hosts led 2–1 at half-time and Maresca’s team needed a second-half equaliser from substitute Alejandro Garnacho to get back level at 2–2 and at least avoid an embarrassing defeat.
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It is the first time in eight meetings with English teams that Qarabağ have not been beaten. An encounter with Liverpool on Jan. 28 in the final league phase matchday will be their ninth.
Azerbaijani side Qarabağ continued their impressive Champions League campaign by holding Chelsea to a 2–2 draw in Baku.
They are currently 13th in the table, above European heavyweights such as Atlético Madrid, Napoli, Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen and Ajax. pic.twitter.com/EEQr6dGnIl
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) November 5, 2025
Played: 8, Won: 0, Draw: 1, Loss: 7
Season Result Competition
2015–16 Tottenham Hotspur 3–1 Qarabağ Europa League
2015–16 Qarabağ 0–1 Tottenham Hotspur Europa League
2017–18 Chelsea 6–0 Qarabağ Champions League
2017–18 Qarabağ 0–4 Chelsea Champions League
2018–19 Qarabağ 0–3 Arsenal Europa League
2018–19 Arsenal 1–0 Qarabağ Europa League
2024–25 Tottenham Hotspur 3–0 Qarabağ Europa League
2025–26 Qarabağ 2–2 Chelsea Champions League
Enzo Fernández
Enzo Fernández did not start the game in Baku. / GIORGI ARJEVANIDZE/AFP/Getty Images
Maresca has continually rotated for cup competitions this season, stating the desire to keep players as fresh as possible for fights on multiple fronts.
First-choice midfield pairing Moisés Caicedo and Enzo Fernández began the Qarabağ game on the bench, although Caicedo ended up coming on after just eight minutes to replace the injured Roméo Lavia. Malo Gusto was also rested from the start, while no chances were taken with Wesley Fofana.
“The intention was to rest Enzo, to rest Moisés, to rest Malo, to rest more players, because they are not able to play every three days. They need recovery from last season,” Maresca reasoned afterwards when defending his team selection.
He added: “The Club World Cup affects [us] a lot. We try to rotate. When you win, no one mentions all that. When we don’t win, everyone is focused on that, and now I think it’s important to recover energy for Saturday [against Wolves in the Premier League] and go again.”
Chelsea’s Club World Cup campaign began on June 16, less than three weeks after the victorious Conference League final at the end of May. They lasted the duration in the summer tournament, beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final on July 13, only one month and four days before the 2025–26 Premier League season kicked off for them. Rest time was limited.
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