What Celtic have that Chelsea don't as Enzo Maresca pinpoints 'clear' difference following Notre Dame demolition

The Italian believes Celtic are well ahead of his team in one aspect

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Enzo Maresca insists it's clear Celtic are a team ready to rock and roll ahead of their season opener as they swatted Chelsea aside.

Brendan Rodgers' side made the English Premier League outfit look ordinary in a 4-1 rout of the Blues in South Bend, Indiana. That comes off the back of a 4-3 victory over English champs Man City and a 4-0 thumping of DC United as the Hoops look in serious shape ahead of next Sunday's Premiership opener at home to Kilmarnock.

New Stamford Bridge boss Maresca was left ruing missed chances, but conceded that the Celts looked far stronger physically than his team, although felt his players were "ten times" better against Wrexham in their draw with the high profile Welsh outfit. That being said, the Italian was keen to stress that Chelsea are nowhere near as far along in their preparation than their Scottish opponents, and it showed.

“We don’t like the result as you said. Conceding four is too many. Also the amount of chances we created – first half, even when the game started we had two clear chances. Second half we started the same way.

“After the third goal, the game was finished. I think it was quite clear the difference between us and them in terms of physical condition. You can see that they are a team that in one week they are going to start their official season while for us it was just our second game the break. For me, it was quite clear the difference in physical condition.

“I think on the ball, the team were 10 times better than in the game against Wrexham and that is important because we can see the amount of chances we created first-half and second-half.

“And off the ball, for sure, we can improve things and you can see sometimes we confuse when we need to play short, a little bit longer. It’s part of the process.

“For sure, we need many things to improve off the ball. One of the things we did bad today was when the ball was not under pressure, to maintain the high line. When the ball is not under pressure, you need to drop.”

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