Defiant Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca silenced critics by leading the Premier League's youngest-ever team to a Champions League spot without relying on other results.
Enzo Maresca has hit out at critics who thought they would not qualify for the Champions League next season.
The Chelsea boss claimed that most people believed that they would only have qualified for the Champions League if Aston Villa lost their match against Manchester United, which, for them, was very highly unlikely.
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Chelsea proved them wrong at all costs, winning 1-0 over Nottingham Forest, and the outcome of the Aston Villa vs Manchester United match did not determine anything for them.
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Levi Colwill scored the winning goal in the match with a 50th-minute strike. Manchester United managed to walk away with a 2-0 win over Villa, to end their disastrous season.
Chelsea have not competed in the Champions League since 2022/23, which was their first full season under Todd Boehly.
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Enzo Maresca: I Didn’t Have Any Doubt
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Enzo Maresca noted that going into the match, he was confident about what the players would do, and they did not let him down.
He pointed out that most of the doubts came from critics and is glad that they shut them down with a commanding win over Forest.
According to Enzo Maresca, critics argued that Chelsea did not have all it takes to end their Premier League season on a high since they have young and inexperienced players.
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“I didn’t have any doubt about the players. The doubt was from outside. All the ones that have the answers or the ones that have the truth, they were saying that we are too young,” Enzo Maresca said as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“They were saying that we are not good enough, they were waiting for Aston Villa to drop points for us to achieve the Champions League.”
“They were saying that we were not able to win on this pitch because we are too young, because we are not experienced.”
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He added that it is a great feeling to finally silence them and teach them how to mind their own business instead of meddling in Chelsea’s affairs.
Enzo Maresca noted that the players do not deserve such doubts, especially from critics, insisting that they always put in the work.
“Unfortunately for them, they have all been wrong. All the ones that have the truth and have an answer to everything,” Maresca added.
“So, in English, how do you say? ‘Eff off’ to all of them, because the players deserve that. The effort they have been doing is fantastic.”
He added that Chelsea players achieved what many people thought was impossible since previously, Manchester City lost their match there, and Arsenal drew at the City Ground.
Maresca added that it is quite sad that the players are judged because of their results, and they have to constantly win matches to be loved and appreciated.
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“And today, in case we were not able to win the game, probably all of you would judge this season a disaster. But it was not a disaster,” he added.
Chelsea set a new Premier League record by fielding the youngest team in the competition’s history, with an average starting XI age of just 24 years and 36 days during the 2024–25 season. The previous record, held by Leeds United in the 1999–2000 campaign, stood at 24 years and 162 days.