Enzo Maresca names moment he knew Chelsea would beat PSG in Club World Cup final

Enzo Maresca has claimed Chelsea won the Club World Cup final "in the first 10 minutes" as they beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0. PSG were the favourites heading into the final, having thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-finals, but a Cole Palmer brace and a goal from Joao Pedro earned Chelsea the win.

It is the second piece of silverware the Blues have won under Maresca, having also lifted the Europa Conference League back in May, and the Italian was full of praise for his team after the final.

"I have no words for the players," he told DAZN. "They all deserve this and it's a good moment. For me, we won the game in the first 10 minutes. We set the tempo and we were very good at pressing them. The conditions made it hard to keep going but the boys did well."

Maresca also reserved special praise for Palmer, adding: "Today we found a position for him where there was more space to attack. Obviously Cole played really well but the effort from all the players was fantastic."

And Palmer believes Maresca is "building something special" at Chelsea ahead of the new Premier League season. "Obviously it's a great feeling, even better because everyone doubted us before the game," Palmer said.

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"We knew that and to go out there and put a fight on like we did against a great team, yes, it's good. The gaffer put a great gameplan out.

"Obviously he knew where the space was going to be and he tried to free me up as much as possible, and I just had to repay him and score some goals.

"He's building something special, something important with a young team. Everyone's talked a lot of s*** about us all season, but I feel like we’re going in the right direction."

Chelsea captain Reece James added: "This is what I've dreamt of my entire life. From a little boy, lifting trophies for this club was my dream. It's a great moment.

"It's a huge tournament and so many of the best teams in the world competed for the trophy, but we managed to get our hands on it. It was an amazing feeling to lift it on a stage like this. With friends and family, it’s just amazing.

"We knew the game would be tough, and we knew there would be spells where we didn't have the ball, but we had to work as a team and stick together. We scored three goals, and it's an amazing feeling. It was an amazing game."

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