مدير عام كرة القدم
Chelsea will be rank underdogs when they line up against European champions باريس سان جيرمان under the blazing New Jersey sun on Sunday afternoon, local time. However, they will hope to have a significant trump card up their sleeves.
A combination of hard-fought victories and a somewhat fortunate tournament pathway after the group phase has seen the unfancied Blues reach the inaugural Club World Cup final in the United States, and now Enzo Maresca’s budding squad will face the ultimate test of their credentials.
But where there is Moises Caicedo, there is hope. Quite simply, the midfield destroyer offers Chelsea’s best chance of shutting down the finest central trio on the planet at the moment and pulling off what would be an incredible upset, but an untimely injury means the الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز giants will be sweating on his fitness right up until the whistle.
Chelsea will be rank underdogs when they line up against European champions Paris Saint-Germain under the blazing New Jersey sun on Sunday afternoon, local time. However, they will hope to have a significant trump card up their sleeves.
A combination of hard-fought victories and a somewhat fortunate tournament pathway after the group phase has seen the unfancied Blues reach the inaugural Club World Cup final in the United States, and now Enzo Maresca’s budding squad will face the ultimate test of their credentials.
But where there is Moises Caicedo, there is hope. Quite simply, the midfield destroyer offers Chelsea’s best chance of shutting down the finest central trio on the planet at the moment and pulling off what would be an incredible upset, but an untimely injury means the Premier League giants will be sweating on his fitness right up until the whistle.
Chelsea’s record-shattering £115m ($147m) spend on Caicedo in 2023 was the subject of widespread derision, especially after the new arrival initially struggled to settle in his new surroundings and began his time at the club with a number of high-profile errors.
“At the beginning of last season it was a little bit tough for me,” he admitted last year. “It’s a very big club and you have to get used to it. I learned a lot.” The midfielder had previously referenced the weight of his astronomical price tag, admitting he lost belief in himself: “I have the quality and I know the player I am. But sometimes if you are not strong in your mind, it is difficult.”
However, almost two years on, there’s a reason no-one talks about that fee anymore; over the past 18 months or so, Caicedo has developed into exactly the midfield destroyer the Blues were quite literally banking on, emerging as arguably the finest No.6 in the Premier League as a statistical leader in tackles and interceptions, and placing himself among the very best on the entire planet.
Part of what makes Caicedo so good is his consistency, especially under Maresca in 2024-25, where he has been ever-present and pretty much guaranteed a 7/10 performance week in, week out. It’s little surprise, then, that he has carried that form into the Club World Cup in the United States.
The 23-year-old absolutely dominated the middle of the park in a player-of-the-match display in the last-16 clash with Benfica, demonstrating his passing range – collecting a rare assist – and boundless energy in the weather-delayed 2-1 victory. Of course, he didn’t shirk his defensive responsibilities either, winning the ball back 10 times.
It was a performance that made him the only player at the tournament to have completed more than 10 tackles (12), the only player to have won more than 20 duels (22), and the only player to have had more than 300 touches of the ball (314).
As Cole Palmer scratches around for the kind of consistent impact that made him such a sensation in his first 18 months at Stamford Bridge, the truth is that Caicedo has emerged as Chelsea’s most important player, with their defensive statistics vastly improved in general under Maresca thanks in no small part to the Ecuadorian’s tireless screening in front of the backline.
A semi-final injury against Fluminense, then, was very bad news. In added time at the end of the game, with the English club heading for a relatively comfortable 2-0 victory over the Brazilian giants, the midfielder jarred his left ankle badly on the dry turf of New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium as he attempted a typically committed challenge.
Caicedo was withdrawn immediately, leaving his side down to 10 men for the last knockings and throwing his involvement in Sunday’s final into serious doubt as the Blues waited to discover whether they would face PSG or ريال مدريد in the showpiece.
Maresca’s initial reaction was pessimistic, as he admitted his key man was in “pain” after the apparent sprain just four days short of the final. “The priority was to avoid worsening the injury ahead of Sunday,” the Italian tactician said. “He felt like he could continue, but once he tried, the pain returned. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious, and he can recover in time. We’ll assess it day by day.” He added: “I told him that he has to do everything to be on the pitch on Sunday so we will see.”
Meanwhile, a video shared on social media showed Caicedo hobbling badly as the players arrived back at the team hotel in Manhattan. It certainly didn’t bode well.
Then, on Thursday, the news that even the most optimistic of Chelsea fans probably wouldn’t have expected: Caicedo had miraculously returned to training ahead of the final. However, there are still question marks over just how fit he will be when kick-off rolls around on Sunday, although it has been reported that he is ‘ready to play’.
Already the rank underdogs, the bleak reality for Chelsea is that Caicedo is absolutely essential to their slim chances of overcoming a PSG side that looks absolutely unstoppable at present. To put the size of their task into context, the European champions have dispatched Inter, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid – all of whom are considered superior to the Blues – in recent weeks, scoring 15 goals in the process and conceding absolutely none.
If he’s fit to start, it will likely be Caicedo’s job to shut down PSG’s midfield lynchpin, Vitinha, who has similarly carried his stellar normal-season form into the Club World Cup. The Portuguese metronome’s influence is reflected in the fact that he has completed almost 200 more passes than anyone else at the tournament (666), as well as 100% of his 23 attempted switches of play. He is in perpetual motion, too, covering the most distance of any player as he closes in on the 70km mark, almost 10km more than the next PSG player.
Of course, we haven’t even mentioned the الدوري الفرنسي 1 giants’ other midfield dynamos, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz, who are both intrinsic to how Les Parisiens play, too. This is going to be the potentially the sternest test of Caicedo’s career to date.
But those are the tests you have to pass if you want to be considered the best in the business, and that is the Ecuadorian’s long-term aim – even though many would argue that he’s achieved that status already.
Asked if he believed he was the leading defensive-midfielder on the planet ahead of the final, Caicedo told the media: “I don’t think that. I am working on that. I want to become one of the best midfielders in the world but I am too far right now. I am working hard every day and want to show it on the pitch.”
Maresca is convinced his destroyer is already one of the best around, saying late in the Premier League season: “In this moment he is one of the best, if not the best, defensive-midfielder (sic) in the world. He is doing fantastic.
“The best thing about Moi is that every day he is working serious. He is very humble, very kind, polite. He is a fantastic guy.”
Sunday’s final gives Caicedo the chance to put any doubts over his status – especially his own – to bed for good, as he prepares to face up to the world’s best midfield trio. If he can somehow come out on top and help guide Chelsea to an unlikely victory, then that will surely be his crowning moment as the best No.6 on the planet.
With that question put to him, the 23-year-old responded: “Yes, exactly. I want to do my talking on the pitch, showing my great football and then people can talk about me. You know people always talk when you are doing well. Even when they say bad things, I don’t care because I just want to help my team and I focus on that.”
As the minutes tick down to kick-off in New Jersey, all Chelsea can do is wait and hope that their midfield juggernaut is as fit as possible and raring to go. Their slim Club World Cup final chances probably depend on it.
