Chelsea have revealed that 'police deployed' during the club's clash against Djurgårdens in the second leg of the UEFA Conference League on Thursday evening. During the Blues' 1-0 win over the Swedish outfit at Stamford Bridge, away fans appeared to gain access to areas of the stadium that they shouldn't have.
An official statement from Chelsea on X reads: "At the start of this evening’s #UECL match, Chelsea FC were aware some away fans gained access to areas of the stadium in violation of our ticketing policy. The Chelsea supporters sitting in the immediate areas impacted were relocated, with additional security and police deployed."
Chelsea defeated Djurgårdens 5-1 on aggregate, securing a place in the Conference League final later this month. Speaking to reporters ahead of the clash earlier this week, Enzo Maresca insisted that his side can make a statement by winning the competition.
The Blues boss said: "For me, winning a trophy this season - and the Conference League trophy - is a statement that you can say: 'Chelsea is back'. From there, it's a good starting point to building the winning mentality and winning trophies."
On the experience and impact of winning a European trophy himself as a player, Maresca said: "It's important because it shapes yourself, all the experiences do.
The best experience in terms of winning mentality has been with Juventus, because it's a club where you realise that even in the training sessions, you want to win the small-sided games. So it's a winning mentality in all the competitions.
"It's nice to win trophies, because you learn how to win. Chelsea is a big club with many important, trophies in the past but we need to learn how to win with this squad, one that is different from the squad that won important trophies in the past here with Chelsea.
"I try to convince the players that day by day, you have to build the winning mentality. You have to win the small-sided games. The competition we are in this moment is the Conference League, then we have to win this competition.
"In the future, we can be in other competitions, but at the moment, this is the reality..."
Chelsea will face Real Betis or Fiorentina in the final at the Stadion Wrocław in Poland on May 28. On who he'd rather face, Maresca said: "To be honest, I said many times that I consider Manuel Pellegrini one of my references, one of my professional dads because I worked with him for four years, two as a player, two as a coach.
"I spoke with him a lot. When I have some doubts I call him to try to solve my [problems]. I would be happy for Manuel Pellegrini. At the same time Fiorentina is an Italian club, I'm from Italy.
"I played one season as a player with Fiorentina but in this moment for us it's [about] tomorrow's game and then we see the other one."
In the meantime, Chelsea have got some difficult fixtures to play in the Premier League. The Blues will face Newcastle on Sunday afternoon before facing Manchester United and Nottingham Forest.
With just three games to go, the Blues are currently fifth. football.london has approached Met Police for comment.
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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