Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca: Spending money is no guarantee of success

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca claimed “money does not win titles” ahead of Thursday’s Conference League semi-final first leg against Djurgarden.

The Swedish side’s squad was assembled for a fraction of the more than £1billion that has been spent on recruitment during the last three seasons at Stamford Bridge.

But Chelsea have already been tripped up by underdogs in Europe this season, losing at home to Legia Warsaw in the last round, and while they still progressed on aggregate it exposed a vulnerability that could be exploited by the Allsvenskan side in Stockholm.

“You don’t win games and titles with money,” said Maresca, whose side are in a battle domestically to qualify for next season’s Champions League. “We know that very well. It’s not about how much you spend in the transfer market.

“You’re not going to win titles just because you spend big money. You have to spend money but in the right way.”

The possibility of an upset is increased by the fact Djurgarden play on an artificial pitch at their 30,000-capacity home ground, something most players in Maresca’s side have not experienced in their professional careers, while the head coach also raised the risk of injury.

“It’s completely different,” he said. “In the last weeks even some of their players have been complaining about the pitch. It’s different but we don’t have any excuse or a reason why we’re not going to compete.

“For sure it (injuries) can be a concern. I’m a little bit worried about that, but we’re not in a moment where we can decide to save players for Sunday. This is a European semi-final. We want to be in the final.”

Maresca is likely to name a strong line-up in the Swedish capital despite the tussle his side are involved in to finish in the Premier League’s top five.

They face newly crowned champions Liverpool at home on Sunday looking to hold on to fifth place and have arguably the toughest run-in of the sides involved in the race.

Maresca will be without the injured Robert Sanchez and Christopher Nkunku though Nicolas Jackson is expected to start despite only recently having returned from injury.

“We are trying to build a mentality, a winning mentality,” said Maresca. “For me you build that by taking every game, no matter who is the other team.

“It’s the only way to build a winning mentality. How can you build a winning mentality if you don’t win games?

“The players are aware that tomorrow is an important game but they also are aware the next one is important.”

Maresca rejected the suggestion made by Reece James after the Legia defeat that the team had failed to show the competition respect.

“We don’t take nothing for granted,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve disrespected the competition. That game, when you win the first game 0-3, the second game you try to manage a little bit.

“It’s good that happened because hopefully it’s not going to happen again.”