Chelsea was claimed as the champions of England for the Premier League season of 2016-17 and it was a very dominating campaign from Antonio Conte and his squad as they were mostly positioned in the 1st spot for the majority of the season with no club being able to really show a challenge for them except for Tottenham Hotspur but even they could not truly do much to stop Chelsea from lifting their 6th domestic league title.
One of the things that Chelsea´s Cesc Fabregas has recently stated to have helped his team in going through such an imposing form is that they did not have to compete in the UEFA Champions League or the UEFA Europa League during that season.
Cesc Fabregas was making an appearance in the television show A League Of Their Own with Jamie Redknapp and the Spanish midfielder revealed details concerning the dominant season of Chelsea as he said:
¨On one side, you miss those big nights, but it makes such a difference because you are playing Saturday-Saturday, or Saturday-Sunday and you are getting a lot of rest. Whereas Chelsea now won’t get any rest and that’s why they need to thicken the squad up as you need those extra players in there¨
Considering the risk factor that is involved with players having to perform in more matches and other competitions, it´s true that having a lighter fixture schedule is indeed better for any club as the players have more time to rest and avoid injuries.
However, since Chelsea was claimed as the champions of England after winning the 2016-17 season of the English Premier League, they are automatically qualified for the upcoming campaign of the UEFA Champions League and it might hamper their chances of defending their Premier League title which is already a difficult task to do by itself.