Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored the winning goal, and Maresca expressed his team's determination to win the competition. "We've been working hard every day to reach the final, and now we're here. Our next goal is to win the competition. We have 20 days to prepare for the final, and before that, we have three more important matches in the Premier League, which we hope to win well."
Maresca has a personal connection to Pellegrini, having played for him at Malaga and worked as his assistant coach at West Ham. He is looking forward to facing Pellegrini and Betis, especially because of their past rivalry. "I'm happy to face Betis, especially because of Manuel Pellegrini. I played for Sevilla, which is a big rival of Betis, and we won a derby match against them 1-0. I scored a goal in that match, and I know that the fans of Betis don't like me very much. However, I'm excited to play against Pellegrini, who is like a professional father to me."
Maresca believes that winning the Europa Conference League would be a significant achievement for Chelsea and its fans. "It's very important for me personally, especially because we can give the chance to this club and its fans to be the first team in Europe to win all the competitions. Additionally, reaching the final is a great achievement, considering we started in the play-off round and not in the group stage."
Maresca also sees the Europa Conference League as an opportunity to build a winning mentality and achieve more titles in the future. "The Conference League is a starting point to build a winner's mentality, and then try to win more things and more titles, hopefully in the future."
Maresca has learned a lot from Pellegrini, particularly how to manage players and squads. "I learned a lot from him, especially how to manage players and squads. I had him as my boss for four years, two as a player and two as his assistant coach. I know exactly how he thinks about players, and I try to learn from his honesty and good character."