Football: Chelsea rest Neto for Champions League trip to Baku

London, Nov 4 Chelsea winger Pedro Neto will not travel with the squad for their Champions League 2025-26 clash against Qarabag in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday, manager Enzo Maresca confirmed.

Neto, who appeared to pick up a calf concern during Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday, will be rested as a precaution, Maresca said on Tuesday. The Blues are eyeing their third consecutive win in the competition.

"Not a problem, just a small issue. We'll try to protect him. He's not involved in tomorrow's game," the coach said. "For sure, we need to rotate some of the players because I think we come back in London at 6 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Friday, and then we have a game on Saturday. We'll try to adapt and do our best."

The seventh-placed Chelsea will host Wolverhampton Wanderers, who sit at the bottom of the Premier League table, on Saturday.

In Europe, Chelsea’s Champions League campaign has gathered momentum after a shaky start — following an opening defeat to Bayern Munich, the Blues notched up back-to-back wins over Benfica and Ajax Amsterdam. They currently sit 11th in the standings, level on six points with 13th-placed Qarabag.

"They (Qarabag) beat Benfica and Copenhagen. They were beating (Athletic) Bilbao and lost in the end. It'll be a tough game for sure, for different reasons," Maresca said.

The Italian was also impressed with Qarabag manager Gurban Gurbanov, who has led the club to 11 Azerbaijan Premier League titles since taking charge in 2008. Something I've never seen. It's unbelievable. 17 years with the same club, it's amazing,” he added.

Maresca also said he remains uncertain about midfielder Cole Palmer’s recovery timeline, noting that the player may not be fit in time for Chelsea’s Champions League home fixture against Barcelona on November 25.

"(Cole) isn't taking any sessions with the team. We have (centre-back) Benoit Badiashile, who can probably be available after the international break, and for us that's huge news," he said.

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