Enzo Maresca immediately humbled by journalist after fixtures complaint

63 games and counting, Enzo Maresca is not thrilled about the number of times Chelsea have played this season.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca found that if you are going to complain about too many matches, best not to do it in front of a Brazilian journalist.

The Blues face Fluminense on Tuesday evening for a place in the Club World Cup final but the fixture also represents Chelsea’s 64th game of a season that included a run to the Conference League final and the fourth round of both the FA and League Cups.

That was the point that Maresca was trying to make when he was asked why so many European clubs had lost to their South American counterparts.

“For me personally, it’s not that it’s not important – but we’re coming into the tournament in two very different situations,” Maersca said. “How many official matches have the Brazilian teams played this season? We’ve played 63.”

“European teams come into this competition in a different way compared to Brazilian or South American teams because of the number of matches we’ve already played. But our desire to win is the same as yours. The difference lies in the conditions. We’re arriving here after having played 60 matches.”

The only problem is that Fluminense have played 70 games in the same period, a point one Brazilian journalist was happy to make it.

“We’ve played 70 in the same period. That’s even more games,” he said.

All Maresca could do was smile and nod as his press officer quickly moved on to the next question.

LA ACLARACIÓN QUE DESCOLOCÓ A MARESCA El DT del Chelsea contó que su equipo había jugado 63 partidos a lo largo de la temporada y por ese motivo dijo que “las condiciones son diferentes” ante los sudamericanos. Sin embargo, un periodista brasileño aseguró que Fluminense jugó 70… pic.twitter.com/boE17yNYqX — TyC Sports (@TyCSports) July 7, 2025

While Chelsea continue to progress, Maresca has been given more chances to complain and has not been backwards when it comes to airing his grievances.

Chelsea’s first game saw them play in a half-full Mercedes-Benz Stadium, something Maresca said affected the players.

“It was a good match, a good performance,” he said. “I think the environment was a bit strange. You know, the stadium was almost empty. Not full. We prepared for this game also thinking that the environment was a bit different.”

Another complaint came after Chelsea had to wait two hours to play the final four minutes of normal time after a thunderstorm broke out during their game against Benfica.

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The London club were winning 1-0 before the stoppage but Angel di Maria scored late on to send the game to extra time. Chelsea eventually won 4-1 but Maresca said the venue, which will be used during next year’s World Cup, was not suitable for football.

“For 85 minutes we were in control of the game,” Maresca said.

“After the break, the game changed completely. For me it’s not football. It’s already seven, eight, nine games that they suspended.

“I think it’s a joke to be honest, it’s not football. It’s not for us. You cannot be inside. I struggle to understand. I can understand that for security reasons, you suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that means that probably [this] is not the right place to do this competition.”

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