The Albany Gazette - Chelsea can cope with pressure of top-five battle, says Maresca

Maresca's men head to the City Ground knowing a victory over Forest should be enough to seal their return to Europe's elite club competition.

With the top five guaranteed to qualify for the Champions League, fifth-placed Chelsea are above Aston Villa on goal difference and sit one point clear of seventh-placed Forest.

After missing out on Champions League action for the past two seasons, Maresca's team are desperate to get back among Europe's elite.

But Forest, who last played in the Champions League in 1980/81, still have a chance of qualifying as well, making the stakes even higher at the sold-out City Ground this weekend.

Asked if his players would be able to cope with the intense situation, Maresca told reporters on Friday: "When you join Chelsea you feel pressure from day one.

"You don't need to play this kind of game to feel more pressure or less pressure. I feel pressure since I joined the club."

Chelsea have won only seven of their 18 away league games, in contrast to their impressive record of 12 wins from 19 at Stamford Bridge.

"Sometimes we played away and we didn't deserve to lose or even draw," said Maresca.

"But for sure if we struggle away, there is a reason why, and we are going to use the break to understand the reason why."

After resolving their Champions League fate this weekend, Chelsea will face Real Betis in the UEFA Conference League final on Wednesday.

Leading the club to the trophy would be a positive end to Maresca's turbulent debut season in charge.

But the Italian conceded he would have to make changes to his team in Wroclaw after the draining clash with Forest.

"Now the focus is on Sunday's game. The next one is the most important one and then after that we can focus on Wednesday's game," he said.

"I said this the other day, we don't have enough time to recover the energy so, for sure, we need to rotate and change things. We need to make some changes."

(N.Miller--TAG)