Enzo Maresca explains Conference League final call which left Chelsea star ‘devastated’

Chelsea captain Reece James ended the night with the Europa Conference League trophy in his grasp but the defender was disappointed not start against Real Betis

Reece James lifted the Europa Conference League trophy on a historic night for Chelsea in Poland – but Enzo Maresca admitted it was tough to leave his ‘devastated’ captain out of the starting XI against Real Betis.

James, 25, was introduced from the bench at half-time with Chelsea trailing 1-0; they went on to produce a rousing second half fightback to win the game 4-1, becoming the only team in history to win all four of Uefa’s major honours in the process.

The Blues captain has endured more than his fair of injury issues and, after playing in Chelsea’s final Premier League game of the season on Sunday, started on the bench. And after lifting the club’s latest trophy, James conceded he was disappointed to not have started the game.

“Of course it is devastating to know you are not starting in a final,” he told TNT Sports when he was asked how he took the news.

“I want to play every game but it was the manager’s decision. Once he made the decision, I had to move on and accept it and be ready when I was needed.”

READ MORE: Chelsea beat Real Betis to win UEFA Conference League and make history – 5 talking pointsREAD MORE: Chelsea fan left bloodied during violent clashes in Poland before Real Betis final

Maresca was asked about James’ omission by Joe Cole and the Italian made it clear how highly he values the right-back, implying that extra care is being taken with the Chelsea academy graduate due to his injury record.

He replied: “Joe, I promise you I would start Reece James every game but we are trying to protect him. We are trying to manage him, he is like Cole [Palmer] for us.”

Maresca earned plenty of plaudits from the TNT Sports pundits for the way his second half substitutions changed the game after a disappointing start to the evening.

He said of the performance: “I am very happy. I was a little bit frustrated in the first half because I think we approached the game in the wrong way. Also I expected a little bit, the happiness was a bit too much after Nottingham Forest because you go all season waiting and waiting [to achieve Champions League]. So we struggled a bit first half, second half we were much better and now we are very happy.

“The message after Nottingham Forest was, ‘Guys if we want to be an important team then what we have done is done and we have to win the final.’ But it’s the happiness, the tiredness because we had 48 hours less than them, they played on Friday for nothing, we played on Sunday for a big, big target. So I expected it a little bit.

“In the second half we played much better.”

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