Head coach Maurizio Sarri says Chelsea have endured difficult days since Sunday’s 6-0 loss at Manchester City. Ahead of Thursday’s Europa League last-32 first leg at Malmo in Sweden, Sarri spoke of his desire for a reaction to the Blues’ worst loss in almost 28 years. Sarri said: “Not too easy, of course. After a match like Manchester City it’s normal.

“It’s not easy to play tomorrow after 6-0 but we have to play and we have to play well. We want to win. We want to react immediately.” Sarri, whose future has been speculated on this week, says he has not spoken to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich since the humiliating loss at City. Sarri said in an interview with an Italian broadcaster on Sunday that he rarely speaks to Abramovich, an owner not renowned for his patience.

“No, not this week – not in the last three weeks,” Sarri added. “It depends on the president, I think. I didn’t say never. The interview was Italian and in Italian I am better than you. “I’d like to speak to somebody in the club, not necessarily the owner. I usually speak with Marina (Granovskaia, the director) and for me it’s enough.” A long dressing room debrief followed the 4-0 loss at Bournemouth and another followed at Chelsea’s training ground earlier this week.
Sarri added: “We talked altogether for one hour the day after the match. It’s better to work, to react on the pitch. The last match wasn’t a problem of motivation. In the first four or five minutes we started well. We were not able to react. We need to solve the problems. I think sometimes as the match in Tottenham in Premier League we had not the right approach, this match was different.

We had good training, we had the right motivation. We conceded and then weren’t able to do anything.” Sarri has rested left-back Marcos Alonso, whose form has dipped of late, while midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is out with a recurrence of his back problem.