The previous three years also saw the Blues travel Stateside, yet those visits were to undertake preparations for the campaigns ahead. It’s a very different experience this time around.

There are no friendlies; there are few off-field distractions. And the focus of each training session is to ready Maresca’s side for the challenges ahead.

The first of those comes tomorrow against Los Angeles FC, and the Blues head coach has outlined to his players what he expects from them in Atlanta and throughout the tournament.

'We had a few days off [after the Conference League final] and some new players have arrived, so when we saw each other three or four days ago at Cobham, the feeling was a little bit like when you return for pre-season,’ said Maresca.

‘But the first thing I said, and the main message since we returned, is that we are not here for pre-season, it’s a big, big tournament.'

He continued: ‘We achieved something important by finishing in the top four in the Premier League, and we won the European competition we were in. But now that is done, finished, and we have to focus on the competition we are in now.'

Our clash at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium tomorrow is the opener in Group D, which also includes Brazilian club Flamengo and Tunisian side ES Tunis.

The Blues are favourites to progress, but handling that pressure is nothing new to Maresca's squad after our Conference League campaign.

He said: ‘We had one competition this season, the Conference League, and the most difficult thing was convincing the players that it was the game of the season for our opponents, so if you don’t prepare in the right way, you can be in trouble.

'Tomorrow we have a difficult game and if we are not ready and prepared, we can be in trouble. So we must prepare 100%.

'And no matter who the other team is, when you are a Chelsea player or head coach, you need to win games. So hopefully, we can start tomorrow’s competition by winning the game.’

Chelsea's opening game against LAFC kicks off at 8pm UK time on Monday. You can watch that and every other game at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 live for free by signing up with DAZN here.