Chelsea is facing the UEFA Conference League final and the boss of the blues and so Maresca on Wednesday evening.
When Enzo Maresca was offered the Chelsea job last summer, he immediately called his “professional father” for advice. Maresca knew that he would join a volatile club with a growing reputation for chewing and spitting coaches with a greater frequency than even the Abramovich era.
But the old Sage Manuel Pellegrini was sure that it was the right move at the right time for Maresca and said his protection: “This is perfect.”
So he made the leap from Leicester City and has lasted a long time than the five other men, including caregivers, who led Chelsea in the roller coaster under the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital Consortium.
And while the top priority returned to the Champions League, the Maresca debut season ends on the Hot chair of Chelsea with the chance of a trophy that doubles as a duel against the man who convinced him to become a coach in the first place.
“I am sure where I am because of Manuel,” says Maresca. Pellegrini brought Maresca to Malaga in January 2011 with the Andalusian club bottom of La Liga. Towards the end of the next campaign, they had sealed a Champions League place for the first time.
Along the way, Pellegrini was struck by how the midfielder effectively coached his younger teammates on the field. So one day after the training, the Chilean took the Italian aside to suggest that getting his qualifications could be a good idea.
“It was just a chat, but from that day I started thinking that I might have a future as a coach and so it started,” Maresca recalls.
In 2012 he returned to Italy, for spells with Sampdoria, Palermo and Hellas Verona. But the seed was planted and when he retired in the summer of 2017 Ascoli, and then in series B, hired him as an assistant coach while completing his badges.
Twelve months later, Pellegrini brought him into West Ham as a representative and he soon impressed such that after a 1-0 victory in Chelsea, when Pellegrini ran the risk, Maresca was credited as a control of their tactical plan.
Whatever the truth behind that story is, the final departure of Pellegrini was followed by Maresca on his way to Manchester City – first with the Development Stequad before he came to Pep Guardiola's supporting staff.
But he and Pellegrini remained close by, with the softly spoken former man City boss granted those words of wisdom when needed.
“The things I have learned from him are how they can manage players, how you can manage changing rooms, how difficult situations, noise around the club.”
Even now they speak every week and after Maresca had flown to Betis' penultimate La Liga game, he went out to dinner with his mentor in Madrid.
They have houses in the area in Spain with both together spending a large part of the summer. “We are so close,” adds Maresca. “He passes the pool, bars, all things like that.”
And when the full -time whistle blows, they will embrace it, regardless of the result. “We both want to win and the good thing is that nothing will have changed after the competition in terms of relationship. Manuel is not just a colleague. He is a reference and he is a top person.”