Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca confirms guard of honour for champions Liverpool

Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Chelsea will give champions Liverpool a guard of honour on Sunday, while warning that his team is closing the gap on the Premier League leaders.

The Blues were Liverpool’s closest challengers at the top until a series of damaging defeats to Fulham and Ipswich over Christmas derailed their title challenge.

The Chelsea head coach expressed his desire for his players to understand the significance of the guard of honour.

Maresca’s squad returned home in the early hours of Friday following their 4-1 win over Djurgården in Stockholm on Thursday night.

The result all but secured their place in the Europa Conference League final, where they will face either Real Betis or Fiorentina on May 28.

Nottingham Forest’s home defeat to Brentford ensured Chelsea remained in the race for a top-five finish, which would grant them a spot in next season’s Champions League.

But first, they must contend with Liverpool’s visit to Stamford Bridge and give Arne Slot’s Premier League champions a standing ovation as they walk onto the pitch.

Chelsea remain in the race for a top-five finish

Maresca said: “It’s tradition. We have to do that, and we are going to do that. They won the Premier League, so they deserve it. In terms of the gap between us and Liverpool, it is there, you can see this clearly.

“My feeling is we are [moving] in the right direction and hopefully this gap can be smaller and smaller.”

Barring an unprecedented collapse, Chelsea are set to head to Wroclaw, Poland, for their sixth European final in 17 years, with a chance to complete the full set of UEFA trophies.

The Blues have already won the Champions League, Europa League, and the now-defunct Cup Winners’ Cup twice each, along with the Super Cup.

Enzo Maresca added: “You have to go through this moment to learn. Now we can say, ‘OK guys, it’s already happened. It’s not going to happen again.’

“Otherwise that means there’s a problem. We need that kind of experience to improve.”