Chelsea today begin their Conference League campaign at home to Gent.
While it remains to be seen quite how seriously the Blues take the competition, few would doubt they are among the favourites.
Such are the resources available to Enzo Maresca, even a rotation policy would likely see the club field a stronger team than most of their fellow participants, with all due respect.
Victory in this competition would also see Chelsea become the first club to win all three UEFA club tournaments.
Maresca, however, will be unable to call on star man Cole Palmer for the European campaign.
Indeed, the England international – along with Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia – all been left out of the club’s squad for the Conference League group stages.
The trio have not been included in a bid to manage their workloads across the gruelling campaign, in which Chelsea will be expected to go deep in every competition.
Lavia and Fofana continue to recover from long-term injuries, while Palmer is merely being rested. They could all return for the knockout stages, however.
“It’s very clear,’ Maresca said last month. “We try to protect the players.
“Romeo last year struggled to play [due to injury]. Wes Fofana exactly the same. Thinking about giving them minutes in the Premier League, they are not going to also play in the Conference League. We try to protect them.
“Cole is more or less is the same.
“He had a very busy last year, from City to here, playing many games, then he didn’t come with us on pre-season because he finished quite late [because of Euro 2024]. We are trying to protect the players and give them the right minutes at the right moment.”
