May 29 – Chelsea lifted the UEFA Conference League title after defeating Real Betis 4-1 following a second-half comeback in Wroclaw.
The Spanish club dominated much of the first hour but failed to capitalise on that possession and the London club, 25 minutes from defeat following a ninth-minute strike from Abde Ezzalzouli, turned on the style to triumph in Poland.
Cole Palmer stepped up with a touch of class, delivering two pinpoint crosses from the right to set up goals for Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson. Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo completed the 4-1 victory with goals in the last ten minutes of the final.
In winning, Chelsea became the first club to win all five main European club trophies – the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Super Cup and the defunct Cup Winners’ Cup. The London club also became the first side to defeat a Spanish side in a European club final since 2001. That year, Bayern Munich beat Valencia in the Champions League final following a penalty shootout and Liverpool overcame Deportivo Alaves 5-4 after extra time in the UEFA Cup final.
Chelsea’s coronation in Wroclaw followed a campaign that had nearly ended against Servette of Switzerland in the play-off rounds last summer. However, the Blues were often dominant in the competition, dispatching FC Copenhagen, Noah and Djugarden among others with big score lines.
In the final, Betis proved to be a true test and Chelsea demonstrated their mettle with a display that proved the trophy did mean something to the club, however Chelsea failed to sell out their allocation of 12,500 fans for the final, with supporters from both sides clashing in Wroclaw city centre before the game.
The trophy wraps up a successful first season for manager Enzo Maresca after his side clinched a ticket for next season’s Champions League in the last round of Premier League fixtures at the expense of Nottingham Forest.
The manager said: “The message after Nottingham Forest was, ‘Guys, if we want to be an important team then what we have done is done, and we have to win the final.’ But, it’s the happiness, the tiredness because we had 48 hours less than them [to recover and prepare]. They played on Friday for nothing, we played on Sunday for a big, big target. So, I expected it a little bit. In the second half, we played much better.”
With Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, Premier League clubs have won two out of the three European continental club competitions, but there won’t be a clean English sweep as PSG and Inter Milan will compete for the continent’s premier trophy, the Champions League, on Saturday.
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