Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca appeared to place at least some of the blame for his team’s failure to beat Qarabağ in the Champions League on a hangover from this summer’s Club World Cup.
The Blues made the lengthy midweek trip to European football’s far eastern reaches, playing in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku on Wednesday night.
Chelsea were expected to win convincingly, only for Qarabağ to spring a surprise and claim a point—the hosts led 2–1 at half-time and Maresca’s team needed a second-half equaliser from substitute Alejandro Garnacho to get back level at 2–2 and at least avoid an embarrassing defeat.
It is the first time in eight meetings with English teams that Qarabağ have not been beaten. An encounter with Liverpool on Jan. 28 in the final league phase matchday will be their ninth.






