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Chelsea manager Antonio Conte says David Luiz will miss the last Champions League Group C game at home to Atletico Madrid with an ongoing knee problem.
The Blues boss was forced to deny the Brazil defender's absence was down to a breakdown in their relationship.
Luiz, 30, has played only once since criticising his manager's tactics for Chelsea's defeat to Roma in October.
Striker Michy Batshuayi could feature after being left on the bench for the win over Newcastle.
Conte told reporters the club are still trying to "solve the situation" with Luiz's knee injury but was quick to add that he had picked the centre-back when he was fit.
"Two weeks ago, then it was the past, then he played against Qarabag. If you don't trust what I tell you, it's your problem not my problem."
Chelsea, who guaranteed qualification to the last 16 with a win over Qarabag last month, can finish top with victory at Stamford Bridge.
Atletico must win and hope Roma drop points to reach the knockout stage.
Diego Costa will not travel to London to watch his old club play his future club after agreeing a deal to join Atletico in September.
The striker, 29, is not able to play for the Spanish club until January owing to a transfer embargo.
Costa forced through a return to Atletico after three seasons at Stamford Bridge, where he scored 58 goals in 120 appearances and won two Premier League titles.
But Conte was not interested in talking about his former player: "I think we must have great respect for Atletico Madrid and for the whole team, not only for one, two, three players."
Instead, the Italian focused on midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who he described as "a winner in his mind".
Fabregas, who is yet to win the Champions League despite an array of other major trophies with Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea, said he hoped this will be the year.
"We'll try our best to be consistent enough to reach the final and hopefully win," the Spain playmaker said.
The 30-year-old said he had been worried by his lack of opportunities when Conte first arrived at Chelsea.
"I wasn't playing, I wasn't really part of his initial plans and at that point you can do two things," said Fabregas.
"You can just give up and accept you are not going to be part of the team or the club in the future. The other is what I did, put your head down and be humble, show him that he's wrong."
Atletico have reached the quarter-finals or better of the Champions League in the last four seasons and in 2014 advanced to the final at Chelsea's expense.
But they need Qarabag to at least avoid defeat in Rome in order to progress this time.
Manager Diego Simeone said they would not be distracted by events in Italy.
"We just have to think about us," he said. "It's not going to be a simple game. We need to take the game to where we feel we can hurt them.
"It's a personal challenge to fight for everything we've worked for these last few years and keep our values there," the Argentine added.
Defender Filipe Luis, who returned to Atletico after spending a season at Chelsea in 2014-15, said the players are aware of their responsibility.
"It depends all on us. We need to win and then we'll have to wait. We can't do anything else."
