Enzo Maresca has not ruled out managing Barcelona in the future, despite insisting he is very happy to be at Chelsea and describing the club as “one of the best in the world”.
Chelsea entertain Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday night and Maresca revealed that the team managed by Pep Guardiola between 2008-2012 are the reason he wanted to be a coach.
Maresca, who is Italian, played in Spain for Sevilla and Malaga, and has a Spanish wife. He answered a host of questions from Barcelona journalists in perfect Spanish and could not have been more positive about the club.
Asked if it is his ambition to manage Barcelona one day, Maresca, the Chelsea head coach, said: “You know me because you are always in my press conferences. Even when you ask me what’s happening in three-four months, I always say ‘I don’t know’. At this moment, I’m very happy to be at this huge club, again one of the best clubs in the world, and this is the most important thing.”
Maresca worked with Guardiola at Manchester City and expressed his admiration for what the Spaniard created at the Camp Nou.
“I decided to be a manager because of the Pep [Guardiola] team at Barcelona, years ago,” Maresca said. “I don’t think [any] one can be compared to that Barcelona, to Pep, because I think they changed football in Spain, where every club was trying to play in that way and then Pep moved to Germany, and everyone was trying to play that way in Germany. I think Pep came to England and many clubs tried to do something similar and also England in terms of the international team. I don’t think anyone can be compared to Pep because I think in the last 20-25 years he changed football.”
On the current Barcelona side manager by Hansi Flick, Maresca added: “I think they’re spectacular, it’s a team that whenever I look at it there are things that can be learnt, things that can be looked at, how they attack, how they defend, which in the end has given them the chance to win La Liga last year, to get to the Champions League semi-final. They do a lot of things very well and it’s a team that always wants initiative, always wants value and we try to do the same on our side.”
Tuesday night’s game has been billed as a battle of the teenagers, with Estêvão Willian hoping to start for Chelsea and Lamine Yamal visiting Stamford Bridge with Barcelona.
The 18-year-old pair were only born three months apart, but Maresca has advised Estêvão not to measure himself against Yamal.
“The most important thing for Estêvão is that he has to enjoy football,” Maresca said. “He has not to think about being better than this player or the other player, he has just to be better than himself day by day, try to work hard, improve. For sure, he is going to be a top player for this club.”