Enzo Maresca believes Chelsea will be “a better team” after their Europa Conference League quarter-final clash with Legia Warsaw on Thursday.
Maresca’s side boast a 100 percent record in the competition this season and will be firm favourites for the win in the Polish capital.
The Blues will be hoping to take the next step towards a first trophy under the Italian. However, the London club are balancing their European ambitions with a push to secure Champions League football next term by securing a top-five spot in the Premier League.
And the latter, insists Maresca, remains the priority.
“The main target becomes to finish top four, top five and play next season’s Champions League,” Maresca said.
“But especially because this club, and the fans, and the institution, Chelsea as a club, has to play that competition.
“We have been there all season, and hopefully we can be there at the end.”
A trip to Poland for the #UECL quarter-finals. 🔜🇵🇱 pic.twitter.com/8HtODKFrnX
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 8, 2025
While Chelsea will be expected to return from Poland victorious, their manager believes the experience will only benefit his young squad.
“We cannot allow external things to change the way we think or the change we behave,” said Maresca.
“As a player, I played in four or five different teams where you can play derby.
“I said we need to experience this kind of games, this kind of moment, that for sure after tomorrow’s game we are going to be a better team because we need that.
“We are very young but in the same moment we need this kind of games to improve.”
Read our full preview of Legia Warsaw v Chelsea here…
Maresca, who confirmed defender Wesley Fofana would be out for the rest of the season after undergoing hamstring surgery, also addressed his somewhat controversial decision to rest Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson in their Premier League stalemate against Brentford on Sunday.
“Probably from outside, you receive in the wrong way the reason why Cole and Nico didn’t play. They didn’t play, not because we want to rest them for today.
“They didn’t play because there was a game plan, because Brentford had 24 hours more than us, because some of the players were tired.”
