This competition is now Chelsea's only chance of winning a trophy this season, which makes Thursday’s game even more important for the Blues who are favourites to win the competition. The Blues will be at the Parken Stadium tomorrow for the first leg of the tie before next week's match at Stamford Bridge and Maresca had a lot to say before the tie.
First he spoke on Copenhagen, his admiration for the side and what he has seen from them so far.
“A very good team, they are doing great in the league and also in the Conference. They have a very good manager, a very good team. They play nice football, so it will be a good game.
“It's very clear what they try to do, on the ball especially, also off the ball. They are already a long time together. I was here three years ago with City playing in this stadium in the group, so I know the environment. It's nice to watch them play, nice football, it will be a tough game.”
The Italian head coach named a strong squad for this game and revealed that it will always be a strong team going forward as they chase silverware this season.
“From now on, all the Conference League games and all the Premier League games are all important. We are going to take one by one until the end, trying to win as many games as possible.”
Cole Palmer was the next topic of conversation and Maresca revealed that he will see some minutes on the pitch on Thursday night.
“Since we started, all the decisions we took are all trying to protect players. With Cole and Wes, Romeo exactly the same. Now we have Premier League games and Conference League games that are all important. We can change players in the squad, for instance we added Cole for the final part of the season. If he is in the squad, he can play minutes, no doubt. Cole is always happy to play games, even training sessions.
“We planned that at the beginning of the season, to try and give him more rest. The plan was exactly this plan.
“In terms of numbers, I mean goals and assists, but I'm happy with the way Cole is, even in the last game or Villa away. I know in some moments, he wasn't always going to score, it's normal.”
He moved on to how his side can improve in the knockout stage and how his main goal is to help players improve on what they have done so far.
“We try game after game, to be focused on what we can do better, since we started. Not only the game, but the training sessions. The main focus is helping players improve. The preparation is exactly the same as we prepare Southampton, how we will prepare Leicester and the rest of the games. It's not 90 minutes, it's 180 minutes, so it's a bit different. You can manage a little bit different.”
Finally he spoke on the return of Benoît Badiashile and Wesley Fofana, who he says are ready for action this week after some time on the sidelines.
“They are both ready. Trev was not something serious so he is OK. Benoit has been training in the past 10 days, probably even more. Wes is not in the squad but he is back. Romeo has started to train with us in the last two days. Slowly but surely we are getting players back and ready for the final bit of the season. We said already a few times, unfortunately our bad moment started with the amount of injuries but some of them are already back and in the process to be back. It is a huge boost for me and for the players.”