Every word Enzo Maresca said on Chelsea Club World Cup win, Cole Palmer magic, outclassing PSG

Enzo Maresca has conducted his post-match press conference following Chelsea's FIFA Club World Cup final victory over Paris Saint-Germain in New Jersey.

The MetLife Stadium played host as the Blues blew PSG away with a scintillating first-half performance. Two goals from Cole Palmer and one from Joao Pedro had Chelsea three goals to the good at the break and there was no reply from PSG, who finished the game with 10 men following Joao Neves' red card, in the second period.

Maresca was understandably a delighted man after his side overcame the odds to beat the recently-crowned Champions League winners. Here is every word the world champion Chelsea head coach, who has now wrapped up his debut season at the club in style, had to say in his post-match press conference:

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How does it feel to be world champions?

As you said, being Club World Cup champions is something that we are very proud of. We are very happy, especially against PSG, that as I said two days ago in the press conference, I consider them the best in the world, with one of the best managers in the world, fantastic players. Today has been a top, top achievement.

Tactically, how did you get the better of PSG?

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 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.

As a chess player, how do you see this win?

I said that I love chess, but I'm not a chess player. I would love to know how to play the game very well, but I don't know how to play it very well. But I like chess in general. I repeat, analyzing it, we saw that there was a lot of space on the left side of it, and that's where we tried to win the game. It went well, but I think we won the game in the first 10 minutes, when the team came out to demonstrate that we were here to try to win, respecting the rival, considering the rival the best team in the world at this time. But I think in the end, you can give the players a plan, but in the end it's them who have to execute it, and they did it very well.

How much personal satisfaction do you take from what you've achieved this season?

I work every day just to prove myself. I try always to learn, I try to do every session, every game, what we can do better, what we can learn. It has been a fantastic season, as you said, but I'm especially happy for the players, because just one year ago, when I joined the club, I said since the first press conference that I was in love in the squad, and it's true. But we said many times that the talent is not enough. We need sacrifice, we need togetherness, we need a game plan where all the players think in the same way. And it's just because of them.

Did you ever imagine beating PSG in this way?

I want to say again that I have a lot of respect for Paris Saint-Germain, I respect their coach, but I planned the game to win it. Now, if it's Paris Saint-Germain or another team, what we try to do is help the players so that we can win the game. If you tell me, 3-0 in the first half, I tell you, I didn't expect 3-0. But I did expect a game where the team would fight, and we are here for that. And I think that the team we have can compete against the team of this world.

What did you tell your players before the game?

The message was quite clear. I think we won the game in the first 10 minutes, and the message before the game was to let them understand that we are here to win the game. I think the first 10 minutes, the team was there to show that we were there to win the game. That set the tone of the game, and then, again, the quality of the players, the game plan, the experience, everything has to be good.

There have been some challenges with the Club World Cup (weather/conditions etc], has that made the win even more special?

We are very happy. We have been very happy since we arrived here, but at the same time, some things at some point happened. But I always said that we were proud to be here, and we were proud to play this competition. The first target for us was to move to the group stage. After that, it was Benfica, and then, okay, Benfica now, if we beat Benfica, we can go to the next one. Palmeiras, if we beat Palmeiras, we can go to Fluminense. You know, it's been slow, slow, slow, slow. At the end, we landed here on the 13th of June. Today is the 13th of July. We spent one month here. At the end, I think it was worth it.

I wanted to ask you if you consider this title as something more important than, for example, winning a Champions League or a Premier League?

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.

Did you speak to Donald Trump?

We just exchanged congratulations. He said congratulations. And then he was there with us for the celebrations.

Will Marc Cucurella be the life and soul of the party?

He will be the soul of the party tonight. He is a smart player and one of the main characters in the dressing room.

What happened with Luis Enrique at full-time?

After the final whistle, I approached Luis to talk to him and I saw that something was going on. I don't know what happened really.

How happy are you with Cole Palmer's performance?

These are the games where we expect Cole to appear - in big games and big moments. Once again, he showed how good he is.

Robert Sanchez going long today...

About Robert, I usually say the opponent gives us the solution. If the opponent does what PSG does then we have to use long balls and clearances by the goalkeepers. It depends on what the opponents do.

How did you beat PSG's press?

We tried to plan the game thinking that it was going to go well and that things were going to go well. We had the same thought today. The idea was to go man-to-man. I think PSG are so good that if you give them time, they are going to struggle. In my personal opinion, you have to press them very intense. I think in the first 10 minutes, we were able to do it. In our ideal world, we have to do that for 90 minutes, 95, but we knew that because of the weather conditions, it was not possible to do it for a long time. But we tried to be very aggressive and not give them time.