Enzo Maresca's Confident Assessment After European Win
Enzo Maresca walked away from a gruelling European night convinced his side had shown exactly what he wants them to be: deep, driven and ruthless enough to handle hostile away territory.
The scoreline could have been heavier. He knew it. They knew it.
"I think we could've scored more goals, especially in the first half," he told Amazon Prime, still buzzing from the touchline. "But overall I think we deserved to win the game."
City carved out chances with regularity and, crucially, kept things largely under control at the other end. The Italian was under no illusions about the difficulty of the assignment, yet he sounded almost relaxed as he weighed it all up.
"We created enough chances to win the game. We didn't concede a lot. It's normal to come here and concede some chances because it's normal, so overall happy with the performance."
That word – "overall" – mattered. Maresca kept circling back to the collective, to the idea that this was a squad win as much as a starting XI job. He knows what he has at his disposal and he is not shy about saying it.
"I think I am lucky because all the squad is good players," he said. "For a manager it is easy because you can give minutes to all of them, and tonight I think the guys that were inside were very good."
One of those players stole the spotlight.
Ayyoub Bouaddi, still a teenager, played with the calm of a veteran and the swagger of someone who believes he belongs at this level. Lined up alongside Enzo Fernandez, he never looked overawed by the stage or the stakes.
Maresca loved it.
"The good thing is that from Erling [Haaland], Ruben [Dias], Mateo [Kovacic] you expect how to manage this game," he explained. "But he was never in panic, Ayyoub Bouaddi. He was very good and I think the performance was unbelievable."
That composure has not come out of nowhere. Around the training ground, Bouaddi has already been turning heads. One of the biggest names in the dressing room has noticed more than most.
Erling Haaland has spent the last few weeks watching the youngster closely and has not been shy about sharing his verdict upstairs.
"I think he played a very good game," the striker said. "Last couple of weeks in training, I told the chairman that he has been amazing, so I think we have a gem here."
Then came the sting, delivered with a grin and a striker’s eternal grievance.
"But to be honest, I think he should of played me through in the second half when I was all alone. I was a bit angry, so I will tell him right now, he played a good game, except that pass."
On a night that underlined City’s depth and Maresca’s faith in it, that single complaint from Haaland might be the clearest sign of all: Bouaddi is no longer just a promising kid. He is already being judged – and trusted – by the standards of the very best.
