The Blues head coach has plenty of experience of fervent atmospheres, having contested the Seville, Athens, and Turin derbies as a player.

And with those memories in mind, Maresca underlined why tonight’s game is an important learning curve for his young side. He has helped prepare them for it, and now expects them to stand up to the challenge.

‘We try to always give them the big picture, not only what they can do on and off the ball,’ stated Maresca.

‘Sometimes you also need to show where you are going, because we have players from different parts of the world, so probably some of them don’t know exactly, so we also show them the environment in this stadium so they can adapt and be ready.

‘The players have to think they are lucky to experience this kind of game and this kind of moment. We need to experience these kinds of games. For sure, we will be a better team for it. We are very young, but at the same moment need these games to improve.

‘We cannot allow external things to change the way we feel or behave.’

Maresca reiterated the part our fans played in our victory over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge a week ago, and he explained how a vociferous home support can impact a game.

‘When the environment is the one we have [today], or the one I mentioned after the Tottenham game at home, it’s nice you have the feeling you play with an extra player.

‘This is why I have said many times the fans are the 12th player. You feel that. Probably tomorrow night they will have this extra player, but we need to be good enough to manage that situation.’