Chelsea ended the 2024/25 Premier League by securing a return to the UEFA Champions League after two years away from the competition, which they won less than half a decade ago, and this outcome has pleased Enzo Maresca greatly.
The Italian took over from Mauricio Pochettino in the summer of 2024 to the chagrin of a lot of neutrals who believed that the Argentine gaffer was on the right track with the Blues. However, Maresca’s hiring has proven to be a good move by BlueCo, thanks to the way they ended their season.
It has not been a pleasant ride, but the Blues are now back in Europe’s elite competition and are also in contention for the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy. If they win, they will become the only club in history to win all three European trophies.
Maresca has come out on top by all standards allowed a coach who is managing his first top-flight team, and the man has expressed satisfaction over the outcome of his season.
“I’m very happy for many reasons,” said Maresca after the final whistle in Nottingham. “First of all, because I think the players deserved it. Since day one, they have been working hard. The club, the players, the sporting directors, we’ve all been going in the same direction.
“We have our way, we want to reach results in the way we want to play. I think today the players were top because we also adjusted a bit on how to work off the ball. This environment here today was not easy to play in, but they dealt with that very good.
“I think from January on we played many good games, even if not many in the media were saying that, and today we achieved an important target for this club, so we are happy.”
Overcoming challenges to secure top-four finish
It was not an easy afternoon for Chelsea, however. It took a lone strike from defender Levi Colwill to get them over the line and into the UEFA Champions League. The former Leicester City manager spoke on how tough the game was, referencing how the Tricy Trees had stopped past champions Manchester City in their tracks.
“It was very tough. {statorium_team tid=4 sid=343 text=”[Manchester] City”} lost here, Arsenal drew here, Liverpool drew here, and Chelsea won. It is not easy. The players showed how good they are, the effort they have put in”, he said. “We are in a business where people will judge us because of the results. Probably after today, if we were not able to win the game, some people would judge our season a disaster. But it was not a disaster, I’ve said many times before, this season was already good.
“We have gone from 12th three years ago and sixth last year to fourth this season, with the youngest squad in the history of the Premier League. So I’m very happy.”
