Enzo Maresca is taking his press conference ahead of Chelsea facing Barcelona tomorrow night in the Champions League, and there’s a lot of interesting stuff on his plate.
It’s a fascinating matchup as both teams look to measure up against some of the best continent and find out their own level, while also trying to win 3 vital points to make a huge step towards the playoff stage.
Maresca plays down Yamal threat
Marc Cucurella in action against Burnley.
Marc Cucurella in action against Burnley. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
He was asked about how he was preparing for Barcelona’s most obvious and major threat – the tricky Lamine Yamal flitting between the lines.
Maresca was asked how he would deploy his left back, Marc Cucurella, to counteract the problem:
“Cucu is a big advantage for us always, not just tomorrow. His level has been amazing since I’ve been at the club, not just defending, but as part of our game, he is a big value and we are very pleased with him. They have quite a few players we need to face as a team.”
You can always expect a manager to try and decrease the focus on one player, and quite rightly too. But there’s no denying that we all know where the Barca danger will be coming from.
Cucurella of course came through at Barcelona and has since become a real favourite with the Spain national team. He will be desperate to impress against his old team, and will have the perfect chance against their best player and golden boy.
In other news…
Another former Barcelona man, Marc Guiu impressed with his cameo on Saturday, and after picking up an assist for the crucial second goal had many podcasters praising him.
Andrey Santos had a great game on Saturday and was named man of the match by most outlets. He spoke to the Chelsea TV cameras after the game.
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Chelsea celebrate their goal against Wolves as a group.
Enzo Maresca speaks to TNT Sport after win.
Enzo Maresca speaks in the press conference after a win.