Maresca doubles down on message to Chelsea critics with 'important club' claim

Chelsea face Real Betis in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday with Blues boss Enzo Maresca doubling down in response to his critics

Enzo Maresca insisted Chelsea cannot be considered an “important club” unless they win trophies. Maresca secured Champions League football with a top four finish on Sunday but has now set his sights on winning the Europa Conference League.

Chelsea are red-hot favourites to beat Real Betis on Wednesday and Maresca says he wants to build a winning mentality as he also doubled down on his critics after a rollercoaster season at Stamford Bridge.

Blues boss Maresca said: “The message in the last 48 hours has been, we did something important. But if we want to confirm that we are becoming an important club, we need to show the desire to win the title and to win the game.

“So, as you said, job done, fantastic, all happy. But tomorrow is a different game. It's a final. And it's a game that we want to win at any cost.

“Like I said many times, to build a winning mentality there is only one way. You cannot build a winner’s mentality if you don't win games.

“I think we won many games this season. But it's not enough. Sunday's game is finished. We qualified. We are all happy. But tomorrow we need to show again the desire to win the title and to win the game.

“I just said that what we have done is done. Now we have to prove ourselves tomorrow that we can win the title. And we want to compete for important titles.”

Maresca told his critics to “eff off” after winning at Nottingham Forest on Sunday and, rather than be apologetic, the Italian said that he likes the siege mentality which is being built within the squad. Chelsea defender Levi Colwill also turned the air blue as he swore live on TV after the win at Forest.

Maresca added: “First of all, I think it's a good feeling that the players react when there are some critics. So I think it's a good reaction from the players. Then Levi's reaction, my reaction, was just an outburst for the moment.

“And the reason why is because in our bad moment, or bad run during the season, in February, March, when we dropped points, many people were talking, and from our point of view, they were not talking in the right way.”