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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.

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 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.

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 is the third-tier competition in which to win, and it is 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.

The Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks to move one game clear of the NBA Finals.

In the first half of Indiana’s 130-121 victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Haliburton recorded 20 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds.

Haliburton became the first NBA player to have a post-season total of 30-15-10-0. He finished with 32 points, 15 assists, and 12 rebounds.

In the Eastern Conference play-off finals, the Pacers had a 3-1 lead.

“Guys position me to make plays and play my game.” It was a significant success for us.

Fourth-seeded Indiana scored 20 points off the bench under Pascal Siakam.

Karl-Anthony Towns, who had a left knee injury for the second game in a row and was hysterical at the finish, scored 24 points and OG Anunoby scored 22.

Tom Thibodeau, the coach of the Knicks, said, “We scored 120 points, but our defense wasn’t good enough.”

“Haliburton is a fantastic player. Great players in this league are not protected by one person. Your entire team is involved. And everyone will look bad if one guy isn’t doing their jobs.

The best-of-seven series winners will face either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals, which will take place on June 5.

In a £62 million transfer from Wolves to Manchester United, the Brazilian international is now gearing up for the next step, which involves converting one team from the bottom six to another.

Cunha will join a team that has endured its worst top-flight season since 1973-74 and has gone 12 years without winning a league title.

United are unable to offer new recruits any European football, let alone a place in Europe’s elite club competition, while Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Tottenham are all planning for the Champions League next season.

Indeed, more than three years have passed since United last reached a Champions League knockout match.

Cunha still believes United is a big club despite a poor league record and a lack of European football for the following season, according to BBC Sport, who understands Cunha.

Instead, Cunha, who turned 26 on Tuesday and is in excellent form, is excited about the enormous challenge of revitalizing United’s fortunes.

The move seems to make sense to all parties, in our opinion.

Wolves receive more than £60 million in reinvestment, while Cunha wants to move to a supposedly bigger club.

In addition, Wolves have already demonstrated that they can win games without Cunha, who was suspended for four Premier League games after receiving a red card for Bournemouth in the FA Cup in March. He has already earned 10 points from those games.

The options that are available to Ruben Amorim must be increased as United are set to allow England’s Marcus Rashford and Argentina’s Alejandro Garnacho to depart this summer.

In the Premier League era, his team managed only 44 top-flight goals in 2024-25, a club record. Liam Delap of Ipswich Town and Bryan Mbeumo of Brentford have also been linked.

Cunha is regarded at United as a player who can immediately impact a team while also bringing experience to the team with his 27 goals in 65 Premier League games over the past two years.

Former England international Fara Williams told BBC Sport, “United are fortunate they still have their historic appeal and reputation as a club,” adding that players of the Brazilian’s quality and potential would want to relocate there.

Cunha’s flair and drive have frequently helped him create creativity, movement, and sharp finishing in tight games.

He has scored crucial goals, connected play, and unpicking defenses in moments of individual brilliance, serving as the heartbeat of Wolves’ attacking threat.

Additionally, he and Roberto Firmino (2017-18) and Gabriel Martinelli (2010-223) set the record for the most goals scored by a Brazilian player in a Premier League season with 2024-25.

Williams remarked, “Cunha has everything a United team would want.”

You can’t dispute the traits he possesses and the way he plays the game, which is that he wants to win everything.

His strengths include running at defenders and finishing, and his natural inclination is to go deep and get the ball.

His 2024-25 numbers correspond to Bruno Fernandes, arguably United’s best player, in terms of numbers.

Fernandes managed six goals from outside the box in every competition, which is the same total as Cunha’s. In all competitions, Cunha also managed 51 attempts on target, which is also a record number Fernandes managed.

Some Wolves sources will be closely monitoring Cunha’s performance at United, some of whom have questioned his attitude.

Milos Kerkez of Bournemouth was hit three times by Cunha in March, fighting and kicking him before aiming a headbutt when the Hungary full-back recovered.

After arguing with a staff member of Ipswich Town and snatching his glasses off his face, the Football Association had previously sent him two games.

Has Cunha’s temperament slowed down clubs interested in him if he plays in Europe next season?

In January, other clubs, including Arsenal, turned down his move, and top-seven Premier League clubs also showed an interest.

However, this summer saw fewer options for the forward, with some arguing that it had to be between United and joining a Saudi club.

Rory Smith, the football correspondent for The Observer, stated on The Monday Night Club in April that “there have been a couple of incidents around Matheus Cunha’s character this season that would make you pause.”

Is the word “tantrums” the correct word to use when referring to “two fairly spectacular tantrums”?

Chris Sutton, who won the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers in 1994-1995, was against him.

He said on the same show, “It’s not a question mark.” It’s similar to saying, “Don’t sign Wayne Rooney back then.”

Williams believes that “being in a relegation battle for a long time and playing alongside players you are better than” is what caused Cunha’s frustrations.

Cunha, she continued, “would give United a huge boost.”

You’d probably notice less of his frustration if they were to add players like them, in my opinion.

Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United, Leroy Sane of Manchester City, Rayan Cherki, and Leroy Sane of Manchester United could both leave the Premier League.

Bruno Fernandes, 30, has been given a 72-hour decision to make after being offered by Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal. (Mail)

Rayan Cherki, a 21-year-old French midfielder who has also been linked with Liverpool and Chelsea, has attracted interest from Manchester City. (Telegraph requires a subscription)

In a bid to sign England international Callum Wilson from Newcastle United and Newcastle United, who is out of contract starting next month, Everton have joined Leeds United. (The Sun)

Bayern Munich and Germany winger Leroy Sane, who will become a free agent at the end of the month, have been given a chance to land at Tottenham (Sky Sports).

Zepiqueno Redmond, 18, is a free agent for Feyenoord’s young striker, according to Aston Villa. (Sky Sports)

Arsenal have discussed signing Sweden international Viktor Gyokeres and made a 58.7 million offer to the Portuguese international. (Portuguese: Correio da Manha)

Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap has been given the go-ahead of a deal, and Manchester United are now awaiting his decision. (ESPN)

Following the incident at Liverpool’s title parade, Arne Slot was awarded both the league manager of the year and the Premier League manager of the year at the LMA awards. He thanked “the wider football community” for its support.

Four children were among the 50 people who were hurt on Monday when a car rammed into crowds in central Liverpool.

At the annual LMA ceremony in London, which he did not attend, Slot was presented the Sir Alex Ferguson Trophy.

Jurgen Klopp was replaced by Federico Chiesa, a 46-year-old who signed only one player for the club last summer, but he still won Liverpool’s second Premier League title by ten points over Arsenal.

He said, “I have had to leave the event out of love with everyone who was affected.”

Given the seriousness of the situation, I believe it to be absolutely right to take this decision.

Football is a game that never ends in conflict, but it also provides a great atmosphere for comradeship, especially in this kind of a situation.

I want to pay tribute to Liverpool’s emergency services and other authorities, who immediately took action.

I believe that everyone involved in the aftermath deserves our full appreciation, along with the supporters and bystanders who offered one another in times of need.

Sonia Bompastor, the Blues’ manager, won the title of WSL manager of the year after leading them to an unbeaten league season, while Grant McCann, the title-winning manager, was honored in the Championship, League One, and League Two, respectively.