Chelsea’s large squad size has gone from topic of ridicule to point of envy in recent weeks, with Enzo Maresca’s first-choice side flying high in pursuit of Liverpool and the second-string cruising through in Europe’s third-tier Conference League.
But even were the Blues somehow languishing at the foot of both tables, the logistics involved in the next few days would almost justify the stockpiling strategy in themselves.
On Wednesday morning at Cobham, Maresca was putting his squad through their paces in conditions that will soon come to feel balmy. In little more than 24 hours - a third of which will be spent in mid-air - Chelsea will step out to face Kazakhstani side Astana in temperatures that could plummet to as low as -11 degrees.
It could, believe it or not, have been worse. One forecast had temperatures in the city of Astana itself hitting lows of -18 degrees this week, but Thursday’s game will instead be played 1,200km away in Almaty, while the hosts’ main stadium undergoes renovations.
“We just have to be ready,” said defender Axel Disasi, who has the new Netflix miniseries Senna downloaded to see him through the journey. “Put two pairs of gloves on and compete in the game because at the end we just have to fight and keep this first-place.”
Chelsea were due to fly from Gatwick following training at 2pm on Wednesday afternoon, with the eight-hour flight heading across mainland Europe, over the Black and Caspian Seas and into Kazakhstan via the airspace of Turkmenistan and neighbouring Uzbekistan. The so-called ‘Middle Corridor’ route avoids both the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the north and those raging in the Middle East to the south.
Almaty is five hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, meaning Chelsea will not land on Kazakh soil until 3am local time. However, the Blues are planning to keep their players on English time in a bid minimise disruption.
“We arrive, have dinner, then bed,” Maresca explained on Wednesday morning, with Chelsea given special dispensation by UEFA to hold their pre-match press conference in the UK before travelling.
“Fortunately, they are five hours ahead of us. So, that means that when we wake up tomorrow it's already midday here in England.”
Thursday’s meeting is an 8:30pm kick-off local time, or 3:30pm in London, meaning Chelsea’s match day preparation will follow the rhythms of a typical weekend Premier League game.
The squad will then fly straight back to London on Thursday night after the game, meaning they will spend less than 24 hours in Kazakhstan, touching down in the UK early on Friday morning - barely 60 hours before they face Brentford at Stamford Bridge.
That match has been pushed back to 7pm by the Premier League to boost players’ recovery time, but Maresca is set to leave the entirety of his planned starting XI in London, while his second-string is supplemented by academy graduates in Kazakhstan.
“You never know if we need one of the guys that they're going to play tomorrow on Sunday again,” Maresca added. “Ideally, we prefer no because we're going to land at six o'clock in the morning on Friday and it's not normal for one of them to land at six o'clock in the morning and then play again on Sunday.
“So hopefully not, but in case we need, they're going to do the effort.”
Chelsea, though, are not alone in having logistical issues to overcome for this game.
With the Kazakhstan Premier League season finishing in early November, the home side go into the contest having played only one competitive match in the last month, drawing 1-1 with Vitoria SC in their previous Conference League game.
