Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will be a very happy man right now following his side’s 1-0 win against Nottingham Forest.
Victory over Nuno Espirito Santo’s men has seen Chelsea qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Chelsea had a gameplan to beat Forest, which Levi Colwill shared before the match, and they executed it perfectly.
Unsurprisingly, though, Maresca is not the only happy man at the club at this moment in time.
Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali delighted with Enzo Maresca
According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea were already happy with Maresca before they sealed Champions League qualification.
However, it looks like owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are even happier now following Sunday’s result.
Romano claimed on X after the game that Chelsea were pleased with the job that the Italian was doing but are even more delighted now with Champions League football in the bag.
And things could get even better, as the Blues can still win silverware before the campaign concludes.
Maresca’s men play Real Betis in the Conference League final on Wednesday before they travel to America for the Club World Cup.
For talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan, Betis is a game Chelsea have to win, with the former Crystal Palace owner being very critical of the tournament.
Manuel Pellegrini makes prediction about Enzo Maresca
Chelsea’s clash against Betis will see Maresca come up against someone he knows very well: Manuel Pellegrini.
Pellegrini is now Betis boss, but the 71-year-old managed Maresca before the Chelsea head coach served as his assistant at West Ham United.
Pellegrini recently spoke about Maresca, tipping him to have a successful career as a manager. On Maresca, he said: “He is a manager who is going to have a great career, in fact he is already having one.
“He has done important things, getting promoted at Leicester and at Chelsea he shows his ability. He always has the intention of studying, of learning, he is a manager with a great future and with a present in which he is demonstrating his ability.”
Maresca is certainly on the right path. He won promotion to the Premier League with Leicester City last season and has now guided Chelsea back into the Champions League.
The 45-year-old is also one game away from winning a European trophy, with only his former mentor standing in his way.
