Atmosphere affected Chelsea confidence- Enzo Maresca

By implying that the “environment” they established at Stamford Bridge enabled Ipswich to take the 2-0 lead from which his Champions League rivals could never fully recover, Enzo Maresca ran the risk of receiving negative feedback from Chelsea supporters.

The visitors’ second goal came right away from a Chelsea goal kick that Maresca’s goalie Robert Sanchez fired long as they attempted to postpone their Premier League relegation.

Prior to Sanchez abandoning the main strategy in a tense situation, the home crowd had shown their displeasure with their team’s continued use of short passes from the back.

“I think we lost a little bit of confidence because we conceded probably because of the environment and this is the moment that you have to continue doing the right things and don’t change the plan,” Maresca said after the game.

“Also because we are a team that most of the time our goal kicks, we start from playing short. The second goal, we decided to play long because of the environment and we conceded the second one,” Maresca added.

Chelsea have taken just one point from a possible six against Ipswich in the Premier League this season.

Chelsea has dropped to 6th on the Premier League log, one point behind fifth placed Manchester City.

Chelsea can still make it into the Europa League by winning the Conference League, in which they are heavy favourites.

Their priority is still to make it into the Champions League via their domestic campaign.

If the Blues finish outside the top five, they will miss out on a place in the Champions League next season.

For now, Maresca will turn his attention to Legia in the UEFA Europa Conference league and they will seek a place in the semis of the competition after winning the first leg 3-0.