Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca blasted doubters of his team after they secured a return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time in three seasons, being the youngest team in Premier League history.
Levi Colwill netted in the second half of Chelsea’s 1-0 triumph at Nottingham Forest in a decisive final game of the league campaign which saw Maresca’s team finish fourth and Forest in seventh, as they qualified for the Conference League.
According to Opta Sports, the average age of Chelsea’s starting team this season was 24 years and 36 days, and is the youngest ever by a team in a single Premier League campaign.
“I didn’t have any doubt about the players,” Maresca said.
“I said that the doubt was from outside, all the ones [who think] that they have the answer, or all the ones that they have the truth, they were saying that we are too young. We are not good enough.
“They were saying that we were not able to win on this pitch because we’re too young, because we’re not experienced. And unfortunately for them, they have all been wrong.”
Chelsea, who started the day in a five-team battle for the three remaining Champions League positions, return to Europe’s top club competition for the first time since 2022-23.
Team owner and chairman Todd Boehly embraced Maresca on the City Ground pitch after the final whistle.
Maresca said his first season with the club was a success because everyone was on the same page.
“With the club, with the owners, with the sport director, the players, we all go in the same direction,” the Italian added.
“And I said many times during the season that the [negative] noise was more from outside than from inside.”
