Kovacic warns teammates not to take BATE Borisov lightly
Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has warned his team-mates not to slip up like Liverpool when they face Bate Borisov in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
Liverpool beat their Champions League opponents Red Star Belgrade 4-0 at home a fortnight ago but switched off in the return leg this week and were comprehensively beaten in Serbia.
Similarly, Chelsea comfortably defeated Bate by a 3-1 scoreline at Stamford Bridge
Kovacic, who is on loan at Chelsea from Real Madrid, urged his team to avoid a repeat of Liverpool's toil.
"I watched the game and Liverpool struggled a lot. In Belgrade the atmosphere is tough. It's difficult to play there, like it will be here as well. These are games where you need to concentrate a lot or you will lose the game," he said.
"The most important thing is we need to be prepared so that what happened to Liverpool doesn't happen to us."
Chelsea will be without Cesc Fabregas, who is unwell and remained in London, as well as Alvaro Morata who has been rested.
Eden Hazard, however, made the 2,300 mile round-trip to Belarus despite suffering with back problems recently, while N'Golo Kante was a last-minute call-up on Wednesday morning after Fabregas reported ill.
last month and now have the opportunity to seal qualification with a victory in Minsk tonight.