Maurizio Sarri believes the Champions League is overhyped despite his quest to secure Chelsea a place in next season’s tournament.
The Chelsea boss concedes Europe’s top-tier competition remains the world’s premier club tournament, but insists its importance is overstated.
Chelsea must win the Europa League or secure a top-four Premier League finish to qualify for next term’s Champions League.
Exclusion from the continent’s top table hampers recruitment and hits revenue, leaving Sarri’s employers possibly unimpressed with his Champions League views. “I think the media give the Champions League too much importance,” said Sarri, whose future at Chelsea remains far from stable. “Of course it’s the most important competition for clubs.
But it’s a competition with straight elimination, so we need to play very well but you need to be lucky in that competition.
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I can understand if you stay in the Champions League it’s another world probably. “I have played two times in the Champions League and it’s clear that it’s the most important competition for clubs in Europe and as a consequence in the world I think.
“But it’s a competition in which you need to be lucky.” Chelsea will face Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-finals, while hosting Burnley on Monday night in their top-four Premier League quest. “At the moment we cannot choose: we have to try in the Premier League, we have to try in the Europa League,” said Sarri. “But we want to win the Europa League because it’s a very important competition, not for getting into the Champions League, so we have to try in the Premier League to get into the top four. “It’s not easy for us, we have to play only four matches but we have to try.”
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