'It's a joke, it's not football' - Maresca fumes after Chelsea's weather-delayed win over Benfica

Enzo Maresca was far from happy after Chelsea's Club World Cup clash with Benfica was suspended for two hours due to adverse weather conditions, describing the situation as "a joke".

The Blues booked their place in the quarter-finals of the competition following a 4-1 victory after extra-time in Charlotte.

However, the match took nearly five hours to complete after play was halted in the 86th minute due to a thunderstorm, with players pictured riding exercise bikes and kicking balls in the dressing room during the enforced break.

Chelsea had been leading 1-0 thanks to Reece James' superb free-kick, but when play resumed, Angel Di Maria scored a stoppage-time penalty to force an additional 30 minutes at Bank of America Stadium.

Nevertheless, Gianluca Prestianni's red card soon after the restart swung the momentum in favour of Maresca's side, who capitalised on their numerical advantage with strikes from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

It was the sixth match to be suspended during the tournament due to storms, and the Chelsea boss suggested it would be better if the competition was held elsewhere.

"For 85 minutes, we were in control of the game," Maresca said. "After the break, the game changed completely. 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 [several] games, that means that probably [this] is not the right place to do this competition.

"If they've already suspended six games, there is probably something that is not working. I'm not here to decide the rules. I'm talking as a manager. As a manager, it's difficult to manage two hours suspended.

"When you are inside for two hours, you try to keep them in the game. But for two hours, they are speaking with their family outside for safety reasons.

"They are eating something, they are playing, they are laughing. How can you keep them two hours inside, focused?"

Nevertheless, Maresca was pleased by the way his players dealt with the unusual scenario, and subsequently set up a quarter-final showdown with Brazilian side Palmeiras.

"I'm very proud," he added. "The performance for me was top until the last five minutes, when they stopped the game.

"When you are inside for more than one hour, it's not easy. But, at 1-1, we continued to play and, at the end, I think the reward was one that we deserved. 

"We are in the last eight teams here in this competition, and we are very happy."