Maresca names two reasons Chelsea were not able to compete with Bayern | OneFootball

Sitting down to talk to Sky Sports ahead of Chelsea’s game against Manchester United this afternoon, there was only one topic on the mind of Enzo Maresca – the defeat to Bayern Munich in midweek.

Maresca on how far Chelsea are from top teams

Enzo Maresca with a Chelsea News logo. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

He was asked how he thought his young team had competed in their Champions League, and what it would take to get them to a level where they’re really contenders:

“I think we can already do that [compete with the top teams],” Maresca said.

“Even in this competition, but overall I think when you concede a goal, one or two, it’s very difficult to come back in the game, especially at Bayern Munich away. But we were able to score one goal, and we were able to create chances to score more goals. Unfortunately we didn’t score again, but we were able to compete.”

Chelsea’s inexperienced squad used as excuse again

Asked to pick out what had impressed him, Maresca pulled out a few excuses about why his team hadn’t been able to really turn the game around:

“The personality of the team [impressed me]. Between us and Bayern there were 5 or 6 years difference in average age, also we had 8 or 9 players playing their first Champions League game… the personality of the team to go there and start in the way we started, concede then score and come back again in the second half was very good.”

It’s a totally valid point to say that this young team can’t be expected to compete with the biggest teams right away – but if we keep selling our most experienced players we will never change that.

Let’s hope this is the last time we ever are in a situation where 90% of players are making their Champions League debut at once.