James says Chelsea took ‘step in the right direction’ as Maresca heaps praise on captain

Chelsea captain Reece James says his side took a “step in the right direction” after beating Copenhagen in the Europa Conference League.

The Blues cruised into a 2-0 lead away from home, thanks to goals from their skipper and Enzo Fernandez in the second half.

But there was a slight disappointment at full-time with the hosts fighting their way back into the game.

It means they will head to Stamford Bridge with hope of pulling off a miracle, but James sees the result as a positive overall.

Speaking after the game, he said: “It’s a big step in the right direction. Coming here is a tough place to go and the atmosphere was amazing.

“They set up well and it’s always frustrating to concede so late on in the game. Our goal was to keep a clean sheet and we could not manage to do that but we got the win.

“It’s always good to score and help the team and thankfully we got the win. We know it’s another huge game [next week], we need to win and we want to advance and win this competition.”

“We want to advance and win this competition” 🏆

Reece James speaks to @NatalieQuirk following Chelsea’s important 2-1 win in Denmark 🇩🇰

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/ZOI6l8NTh6

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 6, 2025

Head coach Enzo Maresca on the other hand was delighted with the result and in particular James’ performance, hinting he could change position in the future.

He added: “I see Reece as a midfielder. Since day one. I sent him a clip when he was on holiday about how he can be a midfielder. He has played in full-back, central defender, so the main target for us is to keep him fit.

“We know how important he is for us. He’s our captain, a fantastic player. We need him fit, so that is our duty, our target, because for sure he is going to help us. He can play in many positions because the good players can play in many positions.

“It has been a little bit of a sloppy goal. We can avoid that. It’s football, it can happen. Now 90 minutes have finished and now we have 90 more minutes against them.

“The main game for us is Sunday’s game at home and we need our fans for 100 minutes behind the team and pushing the team.

“If we can win against Leicester on Sunday, we can do one more step to finishing in the Champions League, (whether) top four or top five, I do not know.”