Having prepared for this afternoon's fixture by analysing every game of Ruud van Nistelrooy's Leicester tenure, Maresca and his coaching staff produced a tactical approach to face a Foxes side that would begin the game with a back four.

However, once the team sheets were revealed, it was apparent Leicester would be deployed in a back-five system at Stamford Bridge. And that meant before the Chelsea players headed out onto the pitch for their pre-match warm-up, Maresca outlined a new plan for the game.

It was one that ultimately paid off as in the 60th minute of the contest, Marc Cucurella broke through Leicester's resistance with a fine strike from distance. It proved enough to secure the three points and Maresca was visibly delighted with his side's display after the full-time whistle was blown.

‘I’m very happy,' the Italian said in his post-match press conference. 'The main reason is when we prepare for a game, we watch as many games as possible, and we watched almost every Leicester game under Ruud. They always played in a line of four.

'But they arrive here and it is a line of five; they change completely their plan. So all the training sessions we have done to prepare for this game go in the rubbish.

'You need a new plan. So, before the warm-up, we had to give the players a new plan and this is why I was so happy because the way the players adapted – something from the outside you maybe don’t see – was top, fantastic.'

Maresca was candid when asked what specifics had to be changed due to Leicester's new approach. He explained: ‘The plan was Marc Cucurella playing next to Moi Caicedo as a midfielder, so three at the back with Cucu next to Moi.

‘But when we saw them with a five, we needed to attack with six. So Cucu was higher on the left, Christo (Nkunku) came into the pocket, and Cole (Palmer), Enzo (Fernandez) and Pedro (Neto) were on the other side.

'The pressing was also completely different because you need to change that, but the way the players adapted was top. Leicester came here to surprise us, like Copenhagen [on Thursday night in the Conference League], but the players have been so good at [adatpting] to that.'