Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca insisted that winning the Club World Cup meant as much as winning the Champions League after his side Paris Saint-Germain beat 3-0 in the final of the first edition of the new competition of FIFA on Sunday.
“I feel that this competition will be just as important, if not more important than the Champions League,” said Maresca after adding the trophy to the UEFA Conference League title that his team won in May.
Maresca only took over at Chelsea a year ago, but was previously at the coaching staff under Pep Guardiola in Manchester City when they won the Champions League in 2023.
“I was lucky that I participated in the coaching staff of a team that won the Champions League a few years ago, but this competition contains the best teams in the world and I think we can appreciate it at the same level,” the Italian said.
“It is a great triumph for us and it will enable Chelsea fans to have on our shirt in the coming four years, so it's a source of pride.”
Maresca said he instructed his players and bring the game from the off to PSG – they then all took the goals in the first half with Cole Palmer a brace before Joao Pedro added his name to the score sheet.
“The message was to let them understand that we were here to win the game and I think we showed that in the first 10 minutes,” said Maresca.
“That set the tone of the game, and then the quality of the players was also important.”
England International Palmer was appointed player of the game after he had used a brace and set up the goal of Joao Pedro.
The 23-year-old therefore has his Superstar invoicing to be achieved on Billboards around New York that advertised for the tournament, alongside people like Real Madrid-Duo Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior.
“It was a great feeling to score the goals, just like the way the team showed fire – the game plan of the Gaffer was perfect,” he said.
“I just try to do my job every time I go to the field and hopefully I will continue.”
“I saw the billboards in Times Square and outside Madison Square Garden and it is clearly a nice feeling to be next to those players,” he added.