Enzo Maresca revealed the tactical masterstroke that inspired Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final.
The Blues were the underdogs heading into Sunday’s final at the MetLife Stadium, but produced a stunning display to shock the Champions League holders.
Cole Palmer showed his class with two well-taken finishes before setting up Joao Pedro, whose deft chip marked his third goal in just two Chelsea games having signed from Brighton midway through the tournament.
PSG have been far and away Europe’s best team this season, and comfortably dispatched of Real Madrid with a 4-0 win to reach the final.
But Luis Enrique’s side were tactically outhought for large swathes of the match, with their frustration on show towards the end of the match and shortly after full-time.
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Few teams have been able to such produce a peformance against the French side this season, and Maresca revealed that the key to unpicking PSG on the night was by exploiting the space on in behind their midfield on the left side.
‘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],’ the Italian said post-match.
‘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.’
Maresca continued: ‘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.’
Enrique, meanwhile, rejected the suggestion that his side were ‘losers’ after the defeat, but struggled to put a finger on what went wrong for his side in the final.
‘We are not losers, there are no losers,’ he said. ‘We are the runners-up. A loser is somebody who gives up. In this high level of sport there are no losers whatsoever.
‘Football – that’s the way it is. Can’t explain everything. I believe they actually started the game really, really well with a lot of pressure and we gave them a hard time.
‘And then after that I believe they had opportunities to score but it didn’t happen.’
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