Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca insists Club World Cup can be 'more important than the Champions League' as tactician reveals game plan that helped Blues down 'best in the world' PSG in 'first 10 minutes' of final

Maresca had a dream debut campaign at Stamford Bridge as he led the Blues to their second trophy of the 2024-25 season in the US on Sunday. Chelsea were on a roll in the final against Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain as Cole Palmer scored twice and provided an assist for Joao Pedro's third to secure the Club World Cup title for the Premier League giants.

Speaking to reporters after the triumph at MetLife Stadium, the Italian coach said: "I consider this competition, the truth is that one day I said to the guys inside that I have the feeling that this competition is going to be as important, if not more important, than the Champions League. I was lucky three years ago to be part of the coaching staff when we won the Champions League [at Man City].

"I lived all these moments, but the truth is that this competition is one of the best in the world. We value it as the Champions League, if not more so, because it has really been a great triumph for us, and to allow the fans of Chelsea to have the chance for the next four years with this badge, the truth is that for us it is an honour."

Maresca further revealed his plan that helped Chelsea pip 'favourites' PSG as he added: "Yeah, as you said, there are three midfielders, two of them were in charge of Reece [James] and Moi [Caicedo] this point, and Vitinha was in charge of Enzo [Fernandez]. Analysing them, we saw that it was a good opportunity to exploit that space, and we scored a goal on that side.

"It was just a game plan, as we said many times, we tried to use different game plans, and we tried to help the players to be in a position where they can give everything. Today, it worked quite well. But overall, I think, as I just said, it has been the effort from all the team, all the players, and I'm very happy, especially for them, because they deserve this moment."

The West London side will be back in action next month as they are scheduled to play a couple of friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan before kicking off the 2025-26 campaign formally on August 17 with their season opener against Crystal Palace.