Latest news with #ConferenceLeague
Express Tribune
an hour ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Chelsea aim high after Conference League win
The UEFA Conference League was not where Chelsea wanted to be, but their triumph in Wroclaw could prove to be a turning point for a club that had lost their trophy-winning habit. The Premier League team beat Real Betis 4-1 on Wednesday, recovering strongly from being outplayed in the first half by their Spanish opponents. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca's second-half substitutions lifted his team but an inspired Cole Palmer was the catalyst for victory, producing two pinpoint crosses for Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson. Jadon Sancho's fine finish made it 3-1 and Moises Caicedo added a fourth in stoppage time to give Chelsea their first silverware since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital acquired the club in May 2022 from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. During the past three years the owners have spent more than £1 billion ($1.3 billion) on promising young talent, but until now have had little to show for it. Chelsea had been clear favourites to win Europe's third-tier club competition from the start, enabling Maresca to field youth and fringe rampaged through the group phase, outclassing teams with a fraction of their resources such as Noah, Astana and Shamrock Rovers. Maresca spoke on the eve of the final in Poland about how he had stressed the importance of the Conference League to his players. He will not need to persuade them next season as they are back where they feel they belong, the Champions League, following a fourth-place finish in the Premier League. 'Winning mentality' Maresca, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, said he hoped winning the Conference League would be a launchpad for bigger and better. "Hopefully, it can be a starting point to build a winning mentality," he said. "You need to win games. You need to win competitions. "And for sure, the trophy we won tonight is going to make us better. But also, I'm very proud about the path or the journey we have done in the Premier League. "For me, it's the most difficult competition in the world. You have to be consistent in 38 games. And these players, they showed it." Maresca had a rollercoaster first season after replacing Mauricio Pochettino. His team were within touching distance of eventual Premier League champions Liverpool in mid-December before stumbling badly. But they found an extra gear towards the end of the campaign, negotiating a tricky run-in to finish in the Champions League spots. "For sure, we have improved a lot since we started," said former Leicester boss Maresca. "We also start to win games in an ugly way. "That is something with a young squad that you struggle to do that." The Italian has been keen to highlight the extreme youth of his expensively assembled squad. The average age of his starting side was the youngest in a single Premier League campaign. It is too early to predict whether they will return to those heady heights but the Conference League is a start. Next on the agenda is a trip to the Club World Cup in the United States, for which Chelsea qualified by winning the 2021 Champions League. "Now we have 10 days off, 10 days where we need to recover energy, and then we're going to start the Club World Cup," said Maresca. "The target is to go game by game, try to go step by step, but at this moment we don't have any target for the Club World Cup. "Now the only target is to recover energy, because the season has been very long."
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Enzo Maresca accused of lying by Chelsea legend after winning Conference League
Enzo Maresca has been called up on his comments in the aftermath of Chelsea's final Premier League match of the season following their victory in the Conference League final Enzo Maresca has lied about the doubts he felt around his Chelsea squad earlier in the season, according to Frank Leboeuf. Maresca ended the season triumphantly by guiding Chelsea to fourth in the Premier League before winning the Conference League with a win over Real Betis. The Blues have risen to the pressure impressively, seeing off Nottingham Forest 1-0 on Sunday to secure a place in next season's Champions League, before producing a comeback over Betis. The Spanish side led 1-0 at half-time in Wroclaw, but Maresca's changes helped his side roar back and win 4-1. Goals from Enzo Fernandez, Nicolas Jackson, Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo earned a new trophy for Chelsea's collection and ensured a wholly positive feeling at the end of a busy 2024/25 campaign. Maresca has revelled in the achievements from his debut campaign in charge, but former Chelsea star Leboeuf has criticised his words. 'I didn't have any doubt about the players. The doubt was from outside,' Maresca said in a rant after the Forest win which saw him tell Chelsea's critics: 'F off to all of them, because the players deserve that.' But Leboeuf believes this assertion is simply not true. He told ESPN: 'He is right and he has a right to brag. He finished fourth in the league and won the Conference League today and we didn't think he could finish fourth and that's the reality. 'But his first sentence is a lie. He said he never had doubts about his team. Yeah, he had doubts like everybody else, even the players had doubts about the capacity of consistency. As we said this season in the Premier League inconsistency is the word of the season. Nobody has been consistent, even Liverpool hasn't been consistent. 'Chelsea, for some people, they were in the race for the title in December. I said wait for the first defeat and what happened? They went down. No doubt Mr Maresca? Yes you had doubts, of course you had doubts.' Speaking in his post-match press conference after the Conference League win, Maresca did admit that his Forest outburst was 'a little bit exaggerated'. He said: 'Hopefully, it can be a starting point to build a winner mentality. You need to win games, you need to win competition. And for sure, the trophy we won tonight is going to make us better. 'But also, I'm very proud about the path or the journey we have done in the Premier League. But for me, it's the most difficult competition in the world. You have to be consistent in 38 games. And these players, they showed. 'That's why after Nottingham Forest, my outburst was a little bit exaggerated. But the reason why is just because in 38 games, you need to be consistent. And with the youngest squad in the history of the Premier League, it's something unbelievable.'
Metro
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Metro
Chelsea issue ultimatum to Jadon Sancho over £25m transfer from Man Utd
Chelsea are ready to sign Jadon Sancho on a permanent transfer from Manchester United but only if he takes a significant pay-cut. The Blues have been weighing up whether or not to sign Sancho permanently following his mixed loan spell at Stamford Bridge. Sancho struggled for consistency following his arrival from Old Trafford but did help Chelsea qualify for the Champions League and win the Europa Conference League. When Chelsea signed Sancho on loan, they agreed to make the deal permanent at the end of the season for between £20-25m. However, it emerged earlier in the season that Chelsea were able to get out of the deal by paying Manchester United £5m in compensation. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link so we can send you football news tailored to you. Sky Sports say Chelsea have opened talks with Sancho's representatives and hope to keep him at the club. With a return to Manchester United seemingly off the table, Sancho is keen to sign a permanent deal with Chelsea, the club he supported growing up. But talkSPORT say Chelsea have informed Sancho he will need to take a pay-cut if he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge and agree a deal which fits in with the wage structure at the club. Sancho is believed to be on around £300,000-a-week and a compromise will need to be reached as Chelsea's policy has been to sign players on long, incentivised contracts with lower base wages. Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca gave little away when asked about Sancho's future following the Conference League victory over Real Betis. 'We are going to sit with the club and decide what happens for next year,' Maresca said. 'If we finish fourth it is also because of Jadon, if we win tonight it is also because of Jadon. It is normal in a season to go a little bit up and down.' As has often been the case this season, Sancho started on Chelsea's bench against Betis but made a telling contribution following his introduction, curling home his side's third goal in a 4-1 win. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Speaking after Chelsea won the Conference League, Blues hero Joe Cole urged his former club to keep Sancho and tipped him to go to another level next season. 'I think Jadon is a really great player and I think he's done well,' Cole said. 'He's been rotated in and out a bit but I want to see Jadon playing. You want a player like that in your squad. It will come down to a financial decision I imagine but I really like him.' More Trending Asked whether he thought Sancho had done enough to earn a permanent move to Chelsea, Cole added: 'Yes I do. 'This is a kid who went to Dortmund and was a superstar as a kid. It wasn't working at Man United but he's done well, he's got his career back on track at Chelsea. 'I think there's more to come from him as well.' Sancho scored 12 goals in 83 appearances for Manchester United following a big-money move from Borussia Dortmund in 2021. For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Amad Diallo urges Ruben Amorim to reconsider Manchester United transfer decision MORE: Liverpool star could block Marcus Rashford's 'dream' transfer move from Manchester United MORE: Erik ten Hag targets two Manchester United stars as first Bayer Leverkusen signing
Qatar Tribune
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
Conference League victory a ‘starting point' for Chelsea, says Maresca
PA Media/dpa London Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca said his team's victory in the Conference League final can be a 'starting point' as he looks to guide the club back to former glories. The Blues turned around a half-time deficit to triumph 4-1 against Real Betis in Wroclaw with Cole Palmer the key factor in turning the game around. The England forward set up goals for Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson before Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo turned it into a procession, as the team built on their Champions League qualification on Sunday. 'Hopefully it can be a starting point to build a winner mentality,' said Maresca. 'You need to win games, you need to win competitions. And for sure, the trophy we won tonight is going to make us better.' 'But also, I'm very proud about the path or the journey we have done in the Premier League. But for me, it's the most difficult competition in the world. You have to be consistent in 38 games. And these players, they showed.' 'That's why after Nottingham Forest, my outburst was a little bit exaggerated. But the reason why is just because in 38 games, you need to be consistent. And with the youngest squad in the history of the Premier League, it's something unbelievable.' Chelsea scored 45 goals in their 15 matches, including the play-off round, 19 more than Betis and the greater quality of Maresca's side ultimately showed - though not before the Blues were given a mighty scare. They looked overawed in the first half, Betis supporters creating a wall of noise and comfortably outnumbering Chelsea fans. The atmosphere seemingly got to Malo Gusto, whose mistake let in Abde Ezzalzouli to score after nine minutes and who almost gifted a second to Johnny Cardoso who spurned a golden chance. The game swung on five-minutes of brilliance from Palmer. Chelsea were seemingly sleepwalking towards defeat and to a miserable anti-climax following Sunday's win over Nottingham Forest that clinched Champions League qualification, when from nowhere Palmer delivered a magnificent ball into the box that was head in by Fernandez. The equalizer woke up Chelsea and spurred on Palmer. Within minutes, he had set up Jackson with another excellent cross, and the striker adjusted his feet well to meet the ball with his shoulder and put Chelsea ahead. It seemed to drain Betis and from there the Blues had it easy. Sancho came off the bench to bend a wonderful finish into the top corner and effectively seal it, then Caicedo landed a further blow on beaten Betis with a fourth in stoppage time. 'We all know that (Palmer) is a top player,' said Maresca. 'We need to help him to be in the right position in the right moment. And then he's a quality player. He can decide with a goal or with an assist, and as you said, the two assists have been both very nice.' 'I said many times, we're going to try to win the competition where we are in, where we play. This season, many times, people were talking about Champions League, Europa League.' 'But you cannot win that competition if you play conference. So our target was to win conference. Now, next season, we're going to play Champions League. And we'll see.'
The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Hallgrimsson reveals hilarious glass half-full reason he's holding out hope Liam Delap could declare for Ireland
HEIMIR HALLGRÍMSSON has not given up hope of getting Liam Delap to play for Ireland - because he has not told him to f*** off. And the Ireland boss Advertisement 2 Hallgrimsson's side take on Senegal and Luxembourg on June 6 and 10 2 The powerful striker is hot property after impressing for relegated Ipswich Town in the Premier League Credit: Getty Chelsea are The striker will line out for England in the Under-21 European Championships but he remains eligible to follow in his father Rory's footsteps and play for Ireland. Rory - whose father was originally from Donegal with his mother from Leitrim - played alongside Hallgrímsson's assistant The pair have met Rory and Liam together and - the fact that he was not dismissed out of hand - means he has not given up hope. Advertisement Read More On Irish Football Hallgrímsson said: "We have sat with him, yeah, just told him we would love to have him in our camp. 'Liam has good qualities, everybody knows that. His father played for the Republic. Obviously we are always hoping the good players will join us. 'He is now in the England under-21 squad in the finals. That is his focus at the moment. What will happen after that we will have to wait and see." Asked what sort of reception he got from the ex-Manchester City starlet, Hallgrímsson said: "Well, he didn't say f*** off." Advertisement Most read in Football Breaking Live Blog Hallgrímsson hopes that the fact that his dad played for Ireland might sway him. He said: "I feel so, yeah. Probably you feel the same as well. "We want the best players available. It is up to him. These questions you need to ask the player himself, not me.' Inside Chelsea's Conference League final celebrations as Moises Caicedo sings karaoke into the night Meanwhile, as Coleman weighs up whether to play on, Hallgrímsson insisted he still viewed the 36-year-old as an on-pitch asset. The full-back was forced to pull out of the Ireland squad for friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg with the thigh injury he suffered in Everton's final game at Goodison Park. Advertisement Hallgrímsson said: 'He knows that. We're selecting him even though he has little playing time. "We've been in contact, so he knows our thoughts and we would like to have him. 'To have experience like him and to have leadership skills like him would be really important once you qualify for the World Cup, for example. So hopefully two more years. 'Many players would probably have stopped. But he always pushes himself to the limit and he expects the same from others. And that's why he is so important for this young squad to grow. Advertisement 'He's still in the Premiership and wants to be in the Premiership. Some players would maybe have lowered the standard. 'It just shows his mentality that he knows his quality and he knows he is helping a lot. "I know David Moyes well and he respects him so much. So, no, it's big up for him, like we say in Jamaica.'
