Chelsea must leave the City Ground with three points on Sunday afternoon in order to secure qualification to the UEFA Champions League but won’t find it easy as Forest are also in the same position. Having boosted their chances of a top-five finish with a hard-fought victory over Manchester United on Friday night, Maresca will be hoping for a repeat performance just days before the Conference League final.
La Liga has accepted a request from Betis to bring their final league match against Valencia forward to Friday evening, handing them much more time to rest and prepare for the game. The Blues meanwhile, must play at 4 pm on Sunday, much like every other side as to not hand other sides an advantage. Maresca said that his decision to hand Betis an advantage while his side will be exhausted is not normal.
"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."
Only goal difference separates Newcastle United in third from Chelsea and Aston Villa in fourth and fifth, respectively. Forest will go all out to secure a win this weekend, which means Maresca’s side will be either utterly exhausted or beaten as he plays his second team to prepare for the final.
Nuno was quizzed on the Champions League showdown this week and admitted that playing at home could be the difference in making history and returning to Europe or not.
"The City Ground is another big boost for us," said the Forest boss. "It's going to be bouncing and helping us, but we're going to fight, we're going to fight. And we're going to face a very good team full of talent, but it's the final game, it's the final game. Let's give it a go."