Chelsea secured their goal of UEFA Champions League qualification on a dramatic final day of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
Heading into a crunch trip away at rivals Nottingham Forest, Enzo Maresca’s side needed a positive result at the City Ground to deny Nuno Santo’s team a spot in the UCL, and hope other results went in their favour.
The Blues kept up their side of the bargain, as Levi Colwill’s close-range finish snatched a 1-0 victory to end Forest’s UCL dream.
However, the travelling Chelsea fans still had their eye on results elsewhere, as Aston Villa suffered a controversial 2-0 defeat at Manchester United.
Villa’s loss in Manchester opened the door for Maresca to end up in fourth position – as Newcastle grabbed the fifth and final place – despite losing 1-0 at home to Everton.
Amid chaotic and emotional scenes at multiple grounds across England, as the campaign came down to a final few minutes, Maresca kept his faith.
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Maresca reveals Chelsea’s ‘Champions League moment’ at Forest
Colwill’s goal got Chelsea over the line at Forest and secured the win they needed to finish in the top five.
But, Maresca admitted it was the Villa result that convinced him over their fate, and allowed his team to ease off in the closing stages.
“The team have grown a lot as a team, and as players, they showed how good they are today,” as per Sky Sports, via BBC Sport.
“We’ve brought this club back to where it has to be. We finished sixth last year and most of the time, they forget that.
“The only thing I knew was when Man United scored their second one. They told me it was 2-0. We didn’t need the rest to drop points, we won.”
Chelsea now wrap up the regular season with a Conference League final clash against Real Betis on May 28 in Wroclaw before heading off to the FIFA Club World Cup in June.
Maresca’s charges have been placed in Group D and will face Esperance de Tunis, Flamengo and either Inter Miami or Club America.
