“There are no easy games” in Conference League, says Maresca as Chelsea prepare to defend lead against Djurgården | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca insisted that “any game can be a tricky game” in the UEFA Conference League as Chelsea prepare to defend their three-goal advantage against Djurgården on Thursday.

The Londoners roared into a 1-4 lead in Stockholm last week and are the clear favourites to progress to the Conference League final later this month, where they could face either Fiorentina or Real Betis.

But Maresca isn’t getting ahead of himself, and highlighted the quarter-final tie against Legia Warszawa as a prime example of why Chelsea must not become complacent. Speaking in Wednesday’s pre-match press conference, the Italian noted: “The first leg [against Legia], we won 3-0. Then the second game at home, we struggled, we lost and we could probably concede some more goals.”

“It’s always complicated, and for sure it’s a competition that we are there and we’re going to try to win. It’s also important that it’s a competition where we started from the play-offs – we weren’t even [automatically qualified for] the groups.”

The 45-year-old admitted that “when you join a competition or you play a game that you have the pressure to win, it’s not the same. You have to do the job and the most important thing is also to convince the players that there are no easy games – there is not an easy opponent, because any game can be a tricky game.”

Maresca was asked whether he’d prefer to face Fiorentina or Real Betis in Poland later this month if Chelsea can defend their lead against Djurgården, and while he insisted that he’s fully focused on the semi-final, he revealed that “I said many times that I consider [Real Betis boss] Manuel Pelligrini one of my references – one of my professional dads – because I worked with him for four years. Two as a player and two as a coach. I spoke with him a lot.”

“When I have some doubts, I call him to try to solve [my problems]. I would be happy for Manuel Pellegrini. At the same time, Fiorentina is an Italian club; I’m from Italy. I played one season as a player with Fiorentina but in this moment for us, it’s [about] tomorrow’s game and then we see the other one,” he added.

Chelsea’s UEFA Conference League semi-final second leg against Djurgården gets underway at Stamford Bridge at 20:00 BST [21:00 CEST] on Thursday 8 May.