The Blues’ 1-0 success today secured a 5-1 aggregate victory and an eighth European final in the club’s history. We will play Real Betis in Wroclaw at the end of this month after they edged past Fiorentina.

Maresca watched the end of that tie before speaking to the media, where he began by praising the manner in which his side advanced to the final.

‘I’m delighted with the professionalism we showed tonight and during the competition,’ said Maresca.

‘We were trying to work every day to reach the final, and now we are in the final. The next step is to try to win this competition.

‘We can give the chance to this club and these fans to be the first to win all the European competitions, and in terms of this group it’s important to reach the final. The Conference League is a starting point to build a winning mentality, and then try to win more titles in the future.

‘We have 20 days to prepare for the final. Before that we have three more Premier League finals, and hopefully we can finish in the right way.’

The Blues finished with several teenagers on the pitch, among them full debutant Reggie Walsh who is just 16. Maresca revealed how he reacted to the news he was starting, and what he made of his performance.

‘He was happy, he was laughing, he was not worried at all. I told him you have to play in the same way you do in training sessions with us: enjoy it. You could see he was.

‘I like Reggie. He is the kind of player who is perfect for my kind of system and the way I want to play. He is 16. One six, 16! You could see the way he was asking for the ball, how good he is on the ball.

‘Tomorrow he has to go to school, that’s important for him to continue, but for sure he is a good player.

‘We finished with Reggie [born in] ’08, Genesis [Antwi] and Shimmy [Mheuka] ’07, and Josh [Acheampong] and Tyrique [George] ’06. It’s fantastic for the academy, for Chelsea, and the fans because the future can be important.’