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"The main thing is..." - Chelsea's secret to winning titles under Enzo Maresca revealed

Enzo Maresca has revealed the secret to winning titles at Chelsea as his side look to lift the Conference League trophy and complete their European collection this season.

The Blues sit top of the competition during the league phase, having won all of their matches so far.

Maresca's side travel to Kazakhstan to face Astana on Thursday night, with an unusual kick-off time of 3.30pm for the young side that are set to play.

Chelsea fell to defeat in the Carabao Cup final under Mauricio Pochettino last season and have not lifted a trophy in the Clearlake Capitan and Todd Boehly era.

Thomas Tuchel remains the last manager to win some silverware with Chelsea, and Maresca is keen to put his name in history and be successful at Stamford Bridge.

Speaking to the press ahead of Thursday's match, Maresca has opened up on what his side must do to win trophies, revealing the secrets he learned during a trophy laiden spell at Manchester City.

He began: "In terms of performance, I've said many times already, they are higher than my expectation in terms of performance and for sure in terms of points. The main thing is to see how we can continue to improve on the ball and off the ball.

Chelsea are second in the Premier League after a 4-3 win over Spurs.

Chelsea are second in the Premier League after a 4-3 win over Spurs. / IMAGO / Visionhaus

"Conceding three goals against Tottenham the other day; we have just two teams that have conceded less than us. We are attacking and defending well. You are not going to win games, or any titles, just scoring goals - you need to defend.

"Conceding three goals against Spurs, there are just two teams that have conceded less than us. That means defensively we are doing quite well."

The Italian continued to reveal that he is not looking ahead to the January transfer window and remains focused game by game and is taking the same approach to the Conference League, despite Chelsea being clear favourites.

"I've said many times already about this competition; the main target is to get to the next stage, and then the next one," he said. "Then when we achieve the next one, the target is to get to the next one. I don't like to think about four or five months ahead."

Maresca finalised by denying claims that he lacks ambition because he refuses to look ahead into the future.

Instead, the manager insisted that he is keen for his players to keep their focus and believes the best way to do this is by taking it one step at a time.

He concluded: "It's not about ambitions. I am quite ambitious, the players are ambitious, the club is ambitious for the history of the club. In my opinion, if you think in four or five months [ahead], you can lose the focus a little bit on now."

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