“It’s about…” – Enzo Maresca responds to Chelsea breaking Barcelona’s amazing 53 game record | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has just had one of his best days as Chelsea coach, managing the Blues to a confident 3-0 win over Barcelona at home in the Champions League.

In doing so, his team broke a streak in impressive fashion. No team has kept a clean sheet against Barcelona for 53 games, but the Blues managed it today. That was slightly conditioned by the first half red card to Barca, but was excellent regardless. The coach played it down:

“It’s about defensive balance. Something you need to [keep clean sheets] to achieve big things.”

Enzo Maresca praises Estevao and calls back to Club World Cup

Enzo Maresca celebrates winning the Club World Cup. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

It’s an impressive record for sure, and it wasn’t the only thing that Maresca liked from the game. He also took the chance to praise Estevao Willian, who had responded to the rare chance to get a start by scoring a superb goal for the Blues, leathering it from a tight angle down the right.

“A huge night for him, for the club, for the fans,” Maresca said of the teen.

“Very nice.”

Looking back at the development of his group, the manager couldn’t help but mention the Club World Cup, where we really saw his group go up a gear and show they were capable against top opposition.

“Winning the Club World Cup was very important for the players in terms of confidence. They realised they can win games against any teams. To get winner mentality, you need to win games.”

In other news…

The Blues were serenaded by their fans all night, and Estevao’s performance in particular got him some amusing treatment from the supporters…

Chelsea opened the scoring in this game through Pedro Neto, who turned in a nice flick after Marc Cucurella drove down the right.