How Maresca handled his squad through Champions League return

All but two players were used by Maresca but only 16 started across three away matches

Chelsea's first week back in the Champions League told us a lot about how manager Enzo Maresca will handle his squad this season.

While in the Conference League last year, the Italian effectively opted for an A and B team, with two different elevens playing in domestic and European football.

However, Chelsea are back in the top tier of Europe for the first time in over two years and faced a challenging week with trips to Brentford, Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah were the only two players to be involved in every minute (270 plus added time) of the last two matches.

Tosin Adarabioyo ranks the next highest by missing only the first four minutes of defeat at United, while Joao Pedro, Enzo Fernandez and Rob Sanchez started all three matches. Cole Palmer likely played as many minutes as he was physically capable before succumbing to a recurrence of a groin injury at United.

Meanwhile, a middle class of players emerged. Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana and Estevao Willian all earned starts. Tyrique George, Alejandro Garnacho and Andrey Santos each got two substitute appearances.

Facundo Buonanotte, Jamie Gittens and Jorrel Hato started against Brentford but all came off around the half time mark in response to a poor first half performance while a goal down. They were unused substitutes in the following two matches.

Striker Marc Guiu and defender Josh Acheampong were the only two players not to play a single minute across three games. Remarkably, Guiu is cup-tied for the upcoming trip to Lincoln City having been recalled from Sunderland on deadline day.

This was a window into who Maresca trusts with long-term injuries Levi Colwill, Liam Delap and Dario Essugo before he is expected to ring the changes for the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.