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Every word Enzo Maresca said after Chelsea's 3-1 win vs Astana in Conference League

Enzo Maresca was delighted with Chelsea's win over FC Astana in the Conference League as they overcame freezing cold conditions to claim another victory.

Marc Guiu combined with Pedro Neto twice in the first half to score a brace for Chelsea in Almaty, before Renato Veiga headed home a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall corner to add a third.

Marin Tomasov struck a wonderful goal into the far corner past Filip Jorgensen to deny Chelsea of a clean sheet in Kazakhstan, but Maresca's side held on to secure a sixth win in a row in all competitions and a spot in the knockout stages of the Conference League.

Chelsea make it five wins out of five in the Conference League 💫#UECL | @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/szA1TkwhhM

— UEFA Conference League (@europacnfleague) December 12, 2024

Chelsea have one game left to play in the League Phase. They welcome Shamrock Rovers to Stamford Bridge next week and the pressure is entirely off after confirming their place in the last-16.

As captured by HaytersTV, here is every word Enzo Maresca said after Chelsea's win over FC Astana in the Conference League.

How Chelsea are feeling after playing 90 minutes in freezing conditions

"We knew it was quite cold. We tried to adapt. The players did fantastic with the weather conditions, the long flight and the pitch was probably not ideal for us. But overall I'm very happy for the players."

Using academy players, who impressed the most against Astana?

"All of them, all of them. The ones that started - Tyrique (George), Sam (Rak-Sakyi) and Josh (Acheampong) - they all have done very, very good, so I’m very happy for them. Also the ones in the second half, so I am pleased for them."

Getting back to London early hours on Friday and how it impacts preparations to face Brentford

"We are going to land around 6 o’clock UK time in England. We are going to try to prepare the game in the best way we can as we have always done this season."

Will the youngsters get a chance to play in the Premier League?

"In the first 11, we had three young players and the rest were all first-team players that have already played minutes in the Premier League. The young ones, for sure, in the future. They need to work hard to deserve the chance, but they are doing very well."

After all the jokes about Chelsea having 40-45 players at the start of the season, is having a big group of players now acting as an advantage in the Premier League and Conference League?

"We didn’t have 40-45 players at the beginning of the season. I said many times that our squad was 25 players. In this moment it is still 25. The rest in the Premier League have exactly the same squad - 25. The difference in terms of squad between us and the rest is exactly the same number of players."

Why is Cole Palmer not here, why has he stayed at home?

"I said already many times, we left out of our Conference League squad a few players. The reason why is to protect them. It's not only Cole Palmer, it’s Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana, so different players."

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