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Chelsea fans want two players taken off immediately after Enzo Maresca makes 'costly mistake'

Home> Football> Football News> Chelsea

Updated 21:14 28 May 2025 GMT+1Published 20:46 28 May 2025 GMT+1

Chelsea fans want two players taken off immediately after Enzo Maresca makes 'costly mistake'

Fans were quick to vent their frustrations during the first half.

Ryan Smart

Ryan Smart

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Chelsea fans want two players to be taken off at half-time after watching the first half of their side's Conference League final against Real Betis.

The Blues are taking on the Spanish side in Wroclaw, Poland as they look to become the first side to win all three major European trophies.

In his pre-match press conference, manager Enzo Maresca said he and his team wanted to win the final 'at any cost'.

But supporters quickly became less than happy with the Italian's team selection against Betis.

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Maresca surprisingly decided not to pick either captain Reece James or star defender Levi Colwill in the starting lineup in Poland.

Instead, he decided to play Malo Gusto at right-back and Benoit Badiashile alongside Trevoh Chalobah at centre-back.

Badiashile and Chalobah have never played alongside each other in central defence at senior level, and the Blues' backline looked shaky almost from minute one in the first half.

Betis would open the scoring on eight minutes through Abde Ezzalzouli's well-taken effort, before Filip Jorgensen was forced to save Marc Bartra's effort.

The Spanish side then had another opportunity to make it 2-0, but Johnny Cardoso miscued an effort over the bar from 12 yards.

And Chelsea fans decided that they'd had enough after seeing that missed chance.

One fan took to Twitter to fume: "So sick of this manager just not starting your strongest team in big games. James and Colwill should have started."

Another said: "Gusto and Badiashile need to get off at half-time."

A third added: "Badiashile is not in sync been out for a while. Why start him over Colwill? Gusto struggles in this system under pressure."

And a fourth wrote: "Should've never started Badiashile or Gusto."

Chelsea dominated ball possession in the first half, with 68 per cent, but that only translated to one shot on target for Betis goalkeeper Adrian to save.

Manuel Pellegrini's squad contains a host of current and former Premier League players, with Pablo Fornals and Manchester United loanee Antony both starting.

Ex-Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, meanwhile, is on the bench in Poland.

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Fan Reactions, Chelsea, Real Betis, Enzo Maresca, Europa Conference League

Ryan Smart
Ryan Smart

Live in constant hope of the top flight as a Preston North End fan. Written in the past for SPORF, GiveMeSport and more.

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