Knockout football always provides unique challenges, something Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca highlighted ahead of this evening's Conference League last-16 tie against Copenhagen.
The first leg takes place in the Danish capital; the return at Stamford Bridge in a week. There are 180 minutes of football for Maresca and his staff to plan for – and the margin for error is small. Attention to detail is crucial.
‘We try game after game to be focused on what we can do better every time,' the Blues head coach explained in his pre-match press conference at the Parken Stadion.
'Not only in the games, also the training sessions. I have said the same since we started, the main focus is to try to help players improve. So the focus is on what we can do better day by day, game after game.
'So for me, the preparation for this game is in exactly the same way as we prepared for Southampton, that we will prepare for Leicester, and we will prepare for the rest of the games this season.
'For sure it's a bit different because it's not 90 minutes, it's 180 minutes. It's two games, so it's not just planning for one game and you're in and out. You have 180 minutes so you can manage a bit differently.'
Copenhagen enter tonight's game top of the Danish Superliga and having eliminated Heidenheim in the play-off round of the Conference League.
It's why Maresca expects a stern test against a side – coached by 36-year-old Jacob Neestrup – he believes will stick to their footballing principles.
'They play nice football so it will be a tough game,' said Maresca.
'You can see they are a team that always try to control the game. I watched the Conference League games, their games in the league, they don’t change the way. They play their style and they want to control and try to dominate the game every time. You can see the clear idea.'