Enzo Maresca admitted Mykhailo Mudryk has been a slower learner than his Chelsea teammates but praised the winger’s performance in his side’s 4-1 win over Panathinaikos.
It was an efficient yet thorough display in Athens to maintain the visitors’ perfect start in the Conference League and the Ukrainian’s contribution was key, scoring the second goal with a brave header as well as setting up two goals for Joao Felix.
Maresca previously challenged Mudryk to seize upon his selection in the starting XI and prove the worth of his £88million transfer fee, and those words were heeded as the 23-year-old had his strongest game of the season in the Olympic Stadium.
A convincing victory in Athens! 🙌#CFC | #UECL pic.twitter.com/N3davbXSOH
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 24, 2024
“We’re working with him and all the wingers,” said Maresca. “They need to arrive inside the box in the position where Misha scored. He’s struggled to arrive there, now he’s started to. That’s where we’re going to score goals.
“We want the best for Misha, since day one we’ve tried to help him. Probably he’s one of the guys that the learning process is more slow compared to the rest.
“But he’s improving. I’m sure that slowly, slowly we’re going to arrive where he will score more goals and to be more important for us.”
Given the size and passion of the home support in Athens this might have been expected to be the toughest of Chelsea’s league stage assignments in this competition.
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— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 24, 2024
But they took the sting out of Panathinaikos with a goal midway through the first half before blowing them away with three in 15 minutes after the interval.
Felix got the first, linking up well with Mudryk before receiving the ball back and rolling it in from six yards, then the Ukrainian turned scorer himself after showing ready determination to beat his defender to the ball and head in Pedro Neto’s cross.
A deflection carried the ball past goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski as Felix hit his second and Chelsea’s third, then for good measure the Portugal international won the penalty from which Christopher Nkunku clipped his eighth goal of the season.
Former Manchester United winger Facundo Pellistri tapped in a consolation, but despite making 11 changes from the side that lost to Liverpool, Chelsea’s dominance was never challenged.
“The most important thing is no matter how many players we change, you can see the identity of the team,” said Maresca. “The identity is quite clear.
“What we want is exactly what they’re doing; taking the chance when we give it to them. Tonight once again they showed that.”
Asked whether a club of Chelsea’s size could ever prioritise this competition, Maresca said: “If we are a Champions League club, why are we in the Conference League? It’s because in this moment we belong to the Conference League. Football in the end always puts you where you deserve to be.”
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— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 24, 2024
Panathinaikos manager Diego Alonso reflected that his team has caused their own downfall.
“We played a good game for 22 minutes, then we made an error and it led to the first goal,” he said.
“In the second half we lost our concentration for 15 minutes and this was enough to let in three goals. This happens when you play against a top team of the Premier League. When you commit an error, you pay hard.”
