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Enzo Maresca, the manager of Chelsea, is tasked with a former adversary and with an old friend.
The Italian is genuinely delighted that his “football dad” Manuel Pellegrini, who first encouraged him to become a coach while playing for Malaga in 2011, gave him a break among his coaching staff at West Ham seven years later, will face off in the Conference League final against Real Betis.
After Chelsea had comfortably defeated Swedish side Djurgarden, Pellegrini took charge of Betis and Maresca watched the final 30 minutes of the Spanish side’s semi-final victory over Fiorentina.
Maresca anticipates booing him after excelling at city rivals Sevilla, even though he has a friend and father figure in the opposing dugout.
In addition, there will be a different level of conflict between the Polish Chelsea supporters.
After the 2025-26 season is over, Maresca’s ownership and sporting directors intend to evaluate him, effectively giving him another year. However, winning a first trophy will help to persuade Blues fans of his worth.
Maresca would not be here without Pellegrini.
According to Maresca, the opposition boss, “If I know how he thinks, he probably also knows how I think.” Therefore, I don’t believe it gives us a lead in this final.
This game is essentially master-versus-analyst.
When Manuel was in charge of Manchester City’s Under-21s in 2020, Maresca stated in an interview that “Manuel was both the coach and the person who persuaded me to try to be a coach myself once I finished playing.”
Maresca revealed that the Chilean, who was playing midfield for Malaga, had planted the idea that he might one day become a good coach.
In a team that had his current assistant Willy Caballero in goal, Pellgrini led Malaga out of the relegation zone to fourth place in La Liga during the 2015 campaign.
Maresca keeps in touch with Pellegrini on a regular basis to this day.
Before the league phase even began, the Italian and his mentor exchanged a “short message” saying, “See you in the final,” and they have since spoken, eventually rekindling their friendship in Wroclaw as both teams have open training sessions.
Maresca responded, “I’ve learned a lot from Manuel,” when asked what he had learned from Pellegrini. He taught me to treat my players like my sons, though, if I choose one. In the dressing room, there are 25 sons, with four of them in my family.
One of the many things I’ve learned from him is “it.” We are both well-known.
When asked if parents no longer have any authority over their children, Pellegrini continued, “When children grow up, parents no longer have any authority.” He participated in Pep Guardiola’s education alongside many others. He will have a successful career and is already doing so.
It reflects his ability and his desire to learn from what he has always been.
Guardiola’s mentions demonstrate Pellegrini’s intimate relationship with Maresca.
He will be aware that one of Maresca’s biggest inspirations was facing Guardiola’s Barcelona team in 2008 while he was a player at Sevilla despite having previously worked under Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi at Juventus.
The box-to-box midfielder knew exactly what kind of coach he wanted to be from the day that he first saw it. In 2020, he joined Guardiola’s coaching staff because of this.
Maresca claims that he received a lot of education. He served as Guardiola’s assistant under the Under-23 team, briefly leaving for Parma for a hapless spell before making a comeback.
He had a significant impact in introducing a tactical evolution, making it more difficult for central defenders like John Stones to play an inverted full-back position and to play midfield, helping teams outnumber those with middle-of-the-field, to outnumber opponents in the middle of the pitch.
Maresca anticipates being booed.
Maresca is most likely to be booed at the Wroclaw Stadium because of her admiration for Sevilla, Betis’ fierce rival.
He was a key midfield force as they won two Europa League titles, a Uefa Super Cup, and the Copa del Rey before being kicked out by former Tottenham manager Juande Ramos, who was known as “The Boss.”
Maresca continued, “I spent four years with Sevilla, and that was a big derby against Betis.” “I scored a goal (an early penalty), and we also won the derby 1-0.” They don’t like or love me, I’m aware of that.
She is from Seville, and I met her in Seville. Seville is where my first son was born. I played for Seville, but I have no doubts about winning the championship match.
Chelsea’s fitness coach, Marcos Alvarez, is also a native of Seville and supports Betis, but he spent the majority of his time with Maresca’s rivals at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, where he was still a player, with Sevilla.
However, Maresca insists that Chelsea should prevail in the final rather than Sevilla.
A game that we will win without any means of compensation.
Whatever the outcome of the final, Chelsea intends to keep Maresca.
Following a spell of hiring and firing managers since the 2022 takeover by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, they have offered him a five-year deal in a bid for stability.
A central defender signing a potential additional option and a striker and right-footed left winger being their top priorities have already been drawn up by the Blues, with Maresca remaining in mind.
The academy and even Strasbourg, which are both owned by BlueCo, have been given permission to play in a similar manner to Maresca.
That will serve as the club’s identity as they aim for players to seamlessly transition between their first teams and their academy, as well as when they switch between England and France.
Chelsea are admiring the respective reconstructions carried out by Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta, but they also recognize the importance of following a similar model to Arsenal and Liverpool to succeed.
The only continental prize Chelsea haven’t claimed was the third-tier victory in Europe, which was regarded as a worthwhile next step in that direction.
Maresca stated, “We did something important in the last 48 hours.” However, we must demonstrate our desire to win both the title and the game if we want to confirm that we are turning out to be a significant club.
It’s a final, I say. And we will always win this game. Even though it was already a good year, it can turn out to be even better if we finish in the top four or top five and advance to the final.
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