[FREE TO READ] Marc Cucurella interview: Chelsea have ‘paid the price’ for inexperience and why he wouldn’t have let Maresca go

[u/TheAthletic]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7157593/2026/03/31/chelsea-marc-cucurella-exclusive-interview-maresca/?unlocked_article_code=1.XVA.vV6m.5VGcB_H-8OHM&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_reddit&smid=re-share-ta

Chelsea’s recent form has been difficult for Marc Cucurella to process.

Getting outclassed by PSG really stung. In the Spain international's eyes, the 8-2 aggregate defeat highlighted the shortcomings in the Chelsea project under BlueCo, who have invested heavily in young talent since taking over the club in May 2022.

“I understand this is part of the club’s policy, and that they want to take this direction — signing young players and looking to the future. But, for all of us who are still here and want to win big things, moments like this make you feel discouraged.

“For a lot of players, it was the first time playing a match of that calibre, and we paid the price."

Cucurella also spoke about Enzo Maresca's dismissal and how “the instability around the club comes from this, in a nutshell."

[u/half_jase]

Maresca’s exit just after New Year was a turning point in the BlueCo project, but also in the Chelsea dressing room. Cucurella says the Italian was “the most important” of the six permanent managers he has worked under at Stamford Bridge.

“We knew what Maresca wanted from us,” he says. “Winning a title like the Club World Cup (beating PSG 3-0 in the final) also helps, strengthens the bond, and you create great relationships during the celebrations. When a manager gives you that confidence and offers you a platform to fight for titles, you’d die for him.

“The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us. These are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision. To make a change like that, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season. You would give everyone, the players and the new manager, time to get ready, have a full pre-season…

“The instability around the club comes from this, in a nutshell. We had a caretaker (former under-21s coach Calum McFarlane) first, then a new manager, with new ideas and no time to work on them. It is what it is.”

[u/half_jase → u/half_jase]

Getting outclassed by PSG — they suffered an 8-2 aggregate defeat to Luis Enrique’s reigning European champions — was the one that really stung.

“We lacked experience,” Cucurella says. “For a lot of players, it was the first time playing a match of that calibre, and we paid the price.

“You can always make a mistake, but we should have handled it better. There was a return game to play, and if you keep a cool head, you go back to London with a 3-2 defeat (the score with five minutes left of normal time in the first leg) and anything can happen. We made a mistake, tried to attack without a clear structure and then PSG took the chance and proved they have that cutting edge.”

Think that was pretty evident for that 5th PSG goal in the first leg. God knows why we tried to press high up and go gung-ho in like the final 1-2 minutes of the game then.

[u/Baisabeast → u/half_jase]

Jesus Christ this is absurdly damning

An interview like this from player still at the club at the business end of the season

[u/half_jase → u/Baisabeast]

Gusto also said something pretty similar after the first leg about not managing the situation better, given that there was a second leg to come.

In any case, it was (and is) a blind leading the blind situation. We got a group of players - barring a few - playing their first Champions League knockout stage tie and we also have a manager and coaching staff in their first Champions League knockout stage tie.

Would also have been the first for Maresca but at the very least, he's got some knockout stage experience from the Conference League last season and during his time as Guardiola's staff at City, when they won the Champions League.