Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says he is “not happy” that opponents Real Betis have been given two days of extra preparation for next week’s Conference League final.
La Liga has accepted a request from Betis to bring their final league match against Valencia – originally scheduled for Sunday – forward to Friday evening.
Chelsea, by contrast, travel to Nottingham Forest – who, like the Blues, are chasing Champions League football – on Sunday, three days before the final in Wroclaw, Poland on Wednesday, 28 May.
Maresca said: “I’m not happy, 100%, you cannot allow another team 48 hours more when you play a European final.
“[Either we play Friday] or they play Sunday like us. I don’t know if it is from La Liga, the Premier League or Uefa, but if you ask people in this room if it is normal to play a final where another team has 48 hours more to prepare, it is not normal.”
Chelsea must finish in the top five of the Premier League to qualify for next season’s Champions League. If they finish sixth or win the Conference League, they qualify for the league phase of the Europa League.
