'Strange' to play in front of 50,000 empty seats: Maresca

ATLANTA — Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca labeled the atmosphere in his team's opening Club World Cup game on Monday "strange", after the Blues triumphed in front of nearly 50,000 empty seats.

The UEFA Conference League winner defeated Los Angeles FC 2-0 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in front of just 22,000 fans at the 71,000-capacity arena.

"The environment was a bit strange, the stadium was almost empty, not full," Maresca told reporters.

"We are professional, we have to adapt to the situation and to the environment. It's important, the behavior of the players, the attitude, and once again they showed how professional they are."

The Chelsea coach said his team had expected a larger crowd, but was hopeful it would get that in its second game against Brazilian side Flamengo in Philadelphia.

Flamengo began its campaign by easing to a 2-0 win against Tunisian side Esperance in Philadelphia.

Uruguayan international Giorgian de Arrascaeta gave the Brazilian giant a 17th-minute lead from an assist by Luiz Araujo, who made it 2-0 with 20 minutes remaining.

"We prepared for this game also thinking that the environment was a bit different, but no doubt that the next one will be a nice one, because we know that the Brazilian teams, they always bring many, many fans," he added.

Over 60,000 spectators attended the opening match between Lionel Messi's Inter Miami and Al Ahly on Saturday, while 80,000 were present at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Sunday for the clash between UEFA Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid.

Plenty of Boca Juniors fans created a raucous atmosphere on Monday for their match against Benfica at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

With Chelsea playing at 3 pm local time on a Monday, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium was under a third full.

Few locals, it seems, decided to take time off work for the tournament's first weekday afternoon game, seemingly scheduled to suit a British television audience

MLS side Atlanta United averages nearly 45,000 fans at its matches, and is the best supported US team.

"PSG against Atletico, in front of a big crowd at the Rose Bowl, so I don't know if there's just more fans in Los Angeles who are into this tournament than here, or if it's the pairing tonight," said LA coach Steve Cherundolo.

However, the American said it was too early to judge FIFA's new expanded competition on the basis of just one match.

"Regarding crowds, I think it's kind of different each game you look at, so I don't think we should be talking about this right now," he added.

"I think we should wait until the end of the tournament (to form) an opinion about it as a whole, as opposed to one game."

Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez's goals got the Blues off to a good start in a competitive clash against one of the three qualified MLS teams.

New signing Liam Delap made his debut as a substitute and helped set up Fernandez's strike, with Chelsea hoping to reestablish itself among the elite after its UEFA Conference League triumph and Champions League qualification.

Maresca said it was a "very good result" and was happy with Delap's display.

"The good thing about Liam is he knows the way we want to play, so the process is quite quick," said the Italian.

Maresca had said he didn't want his side to treat the game like a friendly, but at times the pace seemed labored from both sides. He was obviously thinking about keeping his players fresh when he made replacements at the break, while Olivier Giroud came on for LAFC against one of his former clubs.

Behind Hugo Lloris' goal in the first half, a couple of hundred LAFC "ultras" tried to provide an atmosphere with a drum beat and constant singing.

The closed stadium roof offered refuge from the Georgia humidity and mid-afternoon summer sun, which PSG and Atletico Madrid stars roasted under on Sunday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

After beating Club America in a playoff to qualify for the competition as late as May, LAFC took the place of the banned Mexican side Club Leon, and plays none of its three group games at its home stadium in California.

The top tier of the stadium was entirely shut, and other levels were only partly filled, despite ticket prices dropping in the days ahead of the game.

It was the first real blow for organizer FIFA's expanded competition, which is also being viewed as a trial run ahead of the 2026 World Cup, set to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Agencies