Maresca post 1-0 win over Djurgarden to book Conference League final spot

NicheSportMedia

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca reacts to their 1-0 win over Djurgarden (5-1 on aggregate) to book a UEFA Conference League final spot against Real Betis Stamford Bridge, London, UK

Transcript

00:00Okay, good evening. We will do two sections this evening, first reviewing this game and

00:24the second preview, the Newcastle game which is embargoed until 1 o'clock tomorrow. Can

00:30you please introduce yourself, your name and your publication please and we will begin with Nizar.

00:36Hi Dad, just wanted to ask, you must be delighted with the professionalism you showed tonight but also across the whole competition.

00:44Absolutely yes, we were trying to work every day to reach the final, now we are in the final,

00:52now the next step is try to win this competition. We have 20 days to prepare the final, before that we

01:01have three more final, Premier League final and hopefully we can finish in the right way.

01:07You were a bit late maybe out of the press conference, I was wondering if you were watching the Real Betis

01:12versus the Joantina game and how you feel about Masters versus the Apprentices?

01:16Just finished to watch the game inside. Yeah, as I said we have 20 days now to prepare the final,

01:28happy for you know, happy to face Betis especially because of Manuel Pellegrini.

01:35I played four years for Seville, that is a big derby against Betis, we also won a derby 1-0 and I scored a goal,

01:47so they don't, I know that they don't like me, they don't love me but in terms of you know,

01:53playing this game against Manuel Pellegrini that is my, I said yesterday, it's like my one of my dad,

02:00professional dad, so we'll be very happy. Davida?

02:06Congratulations first of all, what does it mean playing in this final for you personally,

02:10what do you think is going to be for your group?

02:14For me personally is very important especially because I can, we can give the chance to this club

02:22and these fans to be the first club in Europe to win all the competition, so first of all for that.

02:28And then in terms of group, team, squad, it's important because don't forget that we start

02:36in the play-off of this competition, not even in the group and to reach the final it's important

02:42and for me the Conference League it's like a starting point to build winner mentality

02:48and then to try to win more things and more titles hopefully in the future. Ben?

02:53Hi, can you just think a bit more about Manuel Pellegrini and what he taught you?

02:59I spoke to him pre-season and he said that his main thing was having this clear identity

03:05and not moving away from it, so can you give a bit more colour as to what you learned from him?

03:10A lot, a lot, especially how to manage players, how to manage the squad.

03:18I had him four years, two as a player and two I was his coach, assistant coach,

03:26so I know exactly how he thinks about players but the most important thing is that he's honest,

03:33he's a good person, he always tries to be honest with the player and I try personally, I try to

03:40learn a lot about his way. Liam?

03:49What do you think? You like him? Good eh? I like Reggie, I love Reggie because he's that kind of player

04:04that in my system, in the way I want to play, it's perfect. You struggle to find players so young,

04:10he's 16, it's 1-16, and you see how he was asking for the ball, how good is on the ball. Now for sure

04:18the most important thing for him is that he continues to study, he continues to go. I ask him now,

04:23tomorrow he has to go to the school, it's important for him, he has to continue on that, but for sure

04:29he's a good player. We finish with Reggie 08, Shimi and Genesis 07, and Josh and Tariq 06.

04:47It's second team, it's not even first team, it's second team, so it's fantastic for the academy,

04:52it's fantastic for the Chelsea, it's fantastic for the fans because the future can be important,

04:57and yeah, good feeling. We'll do three more in this section, in the front, middle and there.

05:04Enzo, just another one on Reggie, what was his reaction when you told him he was starting?

05:10He was happy, he was laughing, he was surprised also because of his personality,

05:15you know, he was not worried at all, he was laughing. I told him, you have to play in the same way that

05:21you do training session with us, enjoy, ask for the ball, enjoy, and you can see that

05:27he was doing well. In the middle.

05:30Hi Enzo, from Spain. You played seven derbies against Betis. How much do you want to win your

05:38eighth derby with Chelsea against Betis? Is it special for you as a former Sevilla player?

05:45Yeah, no, yeah. I met my wife in Seville, she's from Seville, my first son born in Seville. I played for

05:53Seville, but no doubt that I want to win the final, but especially, I said, especially for the club,

06:00for the fans, hopefully we can win this trophy, and yeah.

06:04And we'll finish it.

06:06Reggie in London. And so, congratulations. How are you going to prepare now for the final in 20 days?

06:12You've got to pick 11 players, how are you going to keep a squad of local players happy?

06:18No, yeah. We have four more games, official games until the end. Three Premier League games,

06:24and then the final. Now, the most important game for us becomes Newcastle. We have 20 days

06:30to prepare the final, and we see game after game. We're going to choose for every game, the best 11.

06:37Okay, thank you. We'll just change the backboard.

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