Chelsea aim to spark new trophy-winning run in major step under Enzo Maresca

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Evening Standard

·27. Mai 2025

Chelsea aim to spark new trophy-winning run in major step under Enzo Maresca

Reece James determined to delivery glory in what Blues boss has convinced his players is the “best competition in the world”

Reece James has vowed to bring the trophy-winning feeling back to Chelsea, after Enzo Maresca admitted he had to convince his players that the Conference League is the “best competition in the world” at the start of their campaign.

The Blues will be chasing their first piece of silverware in more than three years when they meet Real Betis in Wednesday night’s final in Wroclaw, having not lifted a trophy since winning the Club World Cup in early 2022.

James missed that tournament through injury but was part of the side that lifted the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel the previous season.

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The vast majority of his team-mates, however, are yet to win a major trophy in blue, with the bulk having been signed since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover in 2023.

After securing a Champions League return by beating Nottingham Forest on Sunday, Chelsea are out to cap a successful first season under Maresca and James believes winning the Conference League could act as a gateway to future glory.

“We hope [it starts a winning run],” said James, who is seeking to lift a trophy as Chelsea captain for the first time.

“It’s been a few years since we got our hands on silverware so if you zoom out and take a further look, I’d like to think this would bring that winning trophy feel back to the club and help the players who haven’t won so much in their career so far.”

Chelsea looked to have qualified for the Europa League when finishing sixth in the Premier League last term, but were relegated to the Conference League after Manchester United’s surprise FA Cup win.

They were immediately installed as heavy favourites for Europe’s third-tier club competition, enjoying huge financial advantages over every other team in the tournament, and Maresca used the league phase as an opportunity to field the fringe players in his large squad.

The Italian, however, has always insisted Chelsea would take the competition seriously and says he hammered home the same message to his players.

“Probably the most complicated thing this season about the Conference League has been to convince the players that for us it was the best competition in the world,” Maresca explained.

“The reason why was because it was the competition that we were in.

“So every game has been difficult, especially because I needed to convince the players that we were not able to drop anything because you can lose points against any team and we need to respect any team in Europe and any team that we face.”