“I know exactly how he thinks” – Maresca on taking on his mentor in first final | OneFootball

Now that it’s confirmed that Chelsea will be facing Real Betis in the Conference League final, a new thread of narrative to the Blues’ season has emerged.

Enzo Maresca will take on his mentor, Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini. Maresca played for the Chilean for two years at Malaga, and then was a coach under him at West Ham. He had mentioned before the semi how excited he was to have the chance to face his “professional dad,” and once it was confirmed last night he was able to add a little more detail.

Maresca on learning from his “professional dad” Pellegrini

Enzo Maresca speaks post-Legia defeat.

“[From Pellegrini I learned] a lot, a lot. Especially how to manage players, how to manage a squad,” Maresca said.

“I had him four years, two as a player and two I was his coach, assistant coach. So I know exactly how he thinks about players, but the most important thing is that he’s honest, he’s a good person, he always tries to be honest with the player. And I try, personally, I try to learn a lot about his way.”

Betis present a serious challenge for Blues in final

Betis passage to the final was confirmed when they scored an extra time goal away at Fiorentina to give them the edge. There’s no doubt they are a significant step up in quality from the teams we’ve faced in this competition so far, and Pellegrini is a good manager.

We should still have more than enough to beat them – the only risk is that the easy games in this competition so far cause us to take this fixture a little lightly, and we get caught out in Poland.

It’s Maresca’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen, in the biggest game of his career, against his mentor.