Chelsea's Club World Cup run might come with a cost

FOR Chelsea, victory in Sunday's Club World Cup decider completed a fine first season under Enzo Maresca, and also finally brought the curtain down on a marathon campaign that they must hope does not catch up with them down the line.

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The Cole Palmer-inspired 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain at the MetLife Stadium outside New York was Chelsea's 64th game of a season which lasted 11 months.

By any measure it was one of Chelsea's best ever campaigns, with their Club World Cup triumph - placed on a par by Maresca to winning the Champions League - following victory in the Uefa Conference League and a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League.

Maresca, an ex-assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, could not have asked for much more after arriving off the back of leading Leicester City to promotion.

“It has been a fantastic season but I am especially happy for the players,” said the Italian, who has succeeded in putting together a coherent team out of the endless line of new signings being brought in by the club’s owners.

“We have said many times that talent alone is not enough. You need to find a way for them to all fit together.”

It all represents considerable progress from just two years ago, when the Stamford Bridge side finished in the bottom half of the Premier League.