Chelsea's secret captain, what Enzo Maresca did to Jadon Sancho and huge Arsenal team news hint

It certainly was not as straightforward as some were expecting - or hoping, even - but Chelsea have progressed into the Conference League quarter-final.

The Blues were far from their best over the two legs against Copenhagen. It was very much a similar story in both games, with underwhelming first-half displays bailed out somewhat by much improved performances in the second period. Five changes were needed, though, at half-time across the course of both legs - with three in the first and two in the second.

On Thursday evening, where Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's strike on 55 minutes proved to be enough for the west Londoners to progress 3-1 on aggregate and win 1-0 on the night, Enzo Maresca brought on Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella. Both changed the match in Chelsea's favour, with Palmer in particular having an enormous influence on proceedings.

His presence alone, even with a now 10-game goal drought in all competitions, seemed to bring belief to those in blue at Stamford Bridge. It gave the crowd a lift, too, something Maresca would have been hoping to do when he made the double change. While he could not end his barren run in front of goal, the 22-year-old certainly sent a reminder - if at all needed - of what he brings to the team.

Chelsea were from the vintage attacking side we saw earlier in the season but they did not need to be against a dangerous, albeit underwhelming, Copenhagen side. Here are some of the main talking points to come out of the Blues' win in SW6.

Secret captain Tosin

Enzo Fernandez wore the captain's armband for Chelsea with Reece James on the bench after recovering from illness. Fernandez has often been the Blues' skipper this season in James' absence and leads by example when he is on the pitch. Usually, anyway, with the Argentine's 45-minute cameo noticeably below-par on Thursday evening.

However, when it comes to pre-match huddles between the teams, it looked like Fernandez did none of the talking to his teammates. Instead, Tosin Adarabioyo was trying to sparkle some of his experience and wisdom onto a group of players that were all younger than him, bar Dewsbury-Hall, who was born in the same month.

It makes sense. As mentioned, Tosin is one of the more senior players within the Chelsea squad. He is very experienced compared to most and English is his first language, while Fernandez has grown up speaking Spanish.

Maresca calls Sancho over

Around 20 minutes into the game, Maresca did not like what he was witnessing from his Chelsea players in attack. The game was flat and the wingers were struggling to make an impact. In particular, Jadon Sancho, who Maresca called over to the touchline to give some advice to.

During a stoppage in play, the Italian was speaking to Sancho for around a minute but whatever he said to him didn't really work. It was once again an underwhelming performance from the winger who is on loan from Manchester United until the end of the season.

He looked a bit - and even that is stretching it - brighter in the second-half when Palmer was introduced. Sancho had a pop shot from the left-hand side but it was far too central and simple for the goalkeeper to parry away. He probably should have caught it.

In fact, in a rather remarkable statistic - that was Sancho's first shot on target for Chelsea in all competitions since the defeat to Fulham on Boxing Day. Sancho had to wait 780 minutes across 14 matches for his next attempt that tested the goalkeeper.

Hints at Arsenal plans

Fernandez was not at his brilliant best, as mentioned above, but replacing him at half-time would surely have been pre-planned by Maresca with a trip to Arsenal on Sunday afternoon. With such a short turnaround, a lot of what Maresca did in the second-half seemingly points towards the visit to the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League.

He perhaps would not have wanted to bring Cucurella on but felt like he needed to in order to see out the tie. Elsewhere, Sancho was taken off with 25 minutes to play for Christopher Nkunku. Both could well start in north London on Sunday.

James, who is also in contention to be in the starting line-up at the weekend, came on for Moises Caicedo with just over 10 minutes of normal time remaining. In an ideal world, Caicedo would have been nowhere near the pitch - metaphorically, anyway - on Thursday evening but his brilliance in the middle of the park was needed for Chelsea on the night.

Also, it was rather telling that Filip Jorgensen returned to Thursday night duty. The Dane had briefly taken over as Maresca's No.1 goalkeeper but Robert Sanchez was given the nod against Leicester City. It felt like whoever started against Copenhagen, then the other goalkeeper will play versus Arsenal.