The 2025 Club World Cup has been a huge success. For viewers, this competition has been a great product at a time when football is scarce. Enzo Maresca spoke before the match against Chelsea and revived a controversy with Brazilian journalists.

Before Chelsea's match against Fluminense, Enzo Maresca criticized the physical demands European clubs had to endure during this Club World Cup.

The English team's manager pointed out that Chelsea had played up to 63 matches throughout the season. Maresca asked in the press room how many matches the Brazilian clubs had played and received a "70" response. This video went viral on social media due to the manager's reaction.

But Enzo Maresca returned to the fray with information in hand. The Chelsea manager rekindled the controversy by indicating that his players have played that many matches uninterruptedly. The Brazilians have had a break during the end of their championships. In this sense, for Maresca, the comparison of attrition is not the same.

“The Brazilian journalists said they've played more games than us, but they had a month off in December. My players have been working for over a year, it's a huge difference,” said the Chelsea manager.

Inferior to Chelsea

Enzo Maresca's speech before the match against Fluminense had the tinge of an “excuse” in case they were eliminated from the tournament. Now the Chelsea manager is once again leaving something on the table before the match: PSG is superior.

“We know PSG is the best team, they're the Champions League champions, but we're going to try to beat them,” added the manager.

This could be considered the first high-level opponent Chelsea will face in the knockout stage. The English team reached this final after having overcome Benfica, Palmeiras and Fluminense; PSG contract case that had to eliminate clubs of the caliber of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.