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Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, was left fuming after it took almost five hours to complete their Club World Cup last-16 clash with Benfica on Saturday.

With five minutes left, the game was delayed due to adverse weather.

Maresca has now described the situation as “a joke” and “not football”.

Chelsea were 1-0 up at the time the players were instructed to leave the pitch. Angel Di Maria made it 1-1 from the penalty spot after resumption.

Benfica had Gianluca Prestianni sent off, before the Blues took advantage to score three times through Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Storms have now caused six games, all held in different cities, to be suspended during the tournament.

“For 85 minutes we were in control of the game,” Maresca said.

“After the break, the game changed completely. For me, it’s not football. It is already seven, eight, nine games that they suspended.

“I think it’s a joke to be honest, it’s not football. It’s not for us. You cannot be inside. I struggle to understand.

“I can understand that for security reasons, you suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that means that probably [this] is not the right place to do this competition.”

https://dailypost.ng/2025/06/29/club-world-cup-reduced-to-jokes-not-football-maresca-fumes-after-chelsea-vs-benfica/