Every word fiery Enzo Maresca said on Champions League, X-rated rant and Chelsea victory

Enzo Maresca has just completed his last Premier League post-match press conference of the 2024/25 campaign.

Chelsea will play Champions League football next season after picking up a crucial three points on the final day. The Blues actually finished in fourth-place, with Newcastle United being beaten at home against Everton.

Maresca was understandably delighted with the effort his Chelsea players put in at the City Ground - and all season-long, for that matter. Here is every word the Blues head coach had to say in his post-match presser:

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How does it feel to beat your target for this season?

Very happy. I'm very happy for many reasons. First of all, because I think the players deserve it. Since day one they have been working very, very hard. With the club, with the owners, with the sporting directors, the players, we all go in the same direction. And I said many times during the season that the noise was more from outside than from inside.

A very tough game today. How do you manage all the emotions?

Yeah, no, very tough. City lost here, Arsenal drew here, Liverpool drew here and Chelsea won. So it's not easy. It's not easy. The players, they show how good they are, the effort they have been. And unfortunately we are in a business where the people judge us because of the results. And today, in case we were not able to win the game, probably all of you judge this season a disaster. But it was not a disaster.

I said many times that this season was already good. Twelfth two years ago, sixth last year and fourth this season. With probably the youngest squad in the history of the Premier League. So, very happy.

Playing purely for the result today?

The results always count for us in every game since day one until today, every time. But we have our way. We want to reach results in the way we want to play. And I think today the players, they were tough because they also adjust. We also adjust a little bit how to work off the ball. This environment is not easy. But they deal with that very, very good.

Different mentality to Newcastle defeat?

Yeah. But I think that from January on, we played many good games. Probably from some of you, they said that from January, we didn't play so many games. But I think from January, we played many good games. And today we achieved an important target for this club. And we are happy.

Proud of your young squad?

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, 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. Unfortunately for them, they have all been wrong. All the ones that have the truth and have the answer to everything. So in English, how you say? F off to all of them, because the players deserve that. The effort they have been doing is fantastic.

Champions League gives you more options in the market?

Now, I'm not thinking about next summer, to be honest. Today is a day that we have to be happy because we brought this club where this club has to be in the most important European competition. And we did today and this is the most important day for them. Now from tomorrow we start to prepare for Wednesday final and then we have days to see for next season.

How much did you know about other scores during the second-half?

No, they told me just once and that's been when Man United scored the second goal. My assistant manager Willy Caballero said Man United scored the second one, it's 2-0. That was the only information I get through the game because I said before, everyone was waiting for us to draw points and see if Man United win. But I said to the players all week, we don't need to watch Aston Villa, we need to do our job. We need to win the game.

If we win, everything is okay. So the moment that we were winning, the negative part of today and how we need to improve and grow is that after we scored the goal, probably we were a little bit afraid to win the game. So we sit a little bit back, but it's also part of the development from the players.

Happy for an academy graduate in Colwill scoring the winner after all the money that has been spent?

Yeah, but I said that in the past I was not here. I don't think since I joined the club, we spent more money than the rest. I think since I joined the club, we spend money, but in the same way other clubs have done. Now in the past, I was not here, I don't know, but for sure we have players that they deserve to play in the best European competition, that is the Champions League.

How proud are you to achieve Champions League qualification?

Very proud because, first of all, because of the players. I feel part of their improvement, the way they grew through the season, and I feel especially proud for that because they are a fantastic group, a fantastic squad. They are good boys, they work hard, they try to help each other. And I said, probably most of the time, I was from outside, that we were not good enough, we were too young, we don't have a leader, blah, blah, blah, these kind of things. But at the end, it all comes from results.

How important is Wednesday night?

We were in four competitions at the beginning of the season. Today we finished in the Champions League, if we are able to win on Wednesday, we are out of FA Cup and Carabao, but I think overall we can say that it has been a very good season. I already said that for me it was a good season, but it can become very good if we are able to get to the Champions League and hopefully we can win on Wednesday.