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Kuwait Times
26 minutes ago
- Sport
- Kuwait Times
History-makers Chelsea roar back to beat Real Betis in UEFA Conference League final
First club to complete clean sweep of European trophies WROCLAW: Chelsea roared back to beat Real Betis 4-1 in the UEFA Conference League final in Wroclaw on Wednesday, becoming the first club to complete a clean sweep of European trophies. Manuel Pellegrini's enterprising Betis caught the favorites cold with an early goal from Abde Ezzalzouli against a flat-footed and listless Chelsea. But Enzo Maresca's second-half substitutions injected energy and Cole Palmer changed the complexion of the game in a five-minute spell, setting up Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson to score. Substitute Jadon Sancho made the game safe in the 83rd minute as the Spanish side faded in their first European final and Moises Caicedo added gloss to the scoreline. Chelsea are the first club to win the full set of five UEFA club tournaments - the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Super Cup and the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup. They have also won their first silverware since Todd Boehly's consortium took over from former owner Roman Abramovich in 2022, following an era of unprecedented success for the club. Boehly was on the pitch at the end, savoring the win that seemed unlikely when Betis were in control in the first half. Chelsea have ended the season with a flourish after also securing a place in next season's Champions League following a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League. Maresca, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, said he hoped Conference League glory would be a launchpad for the club. 'The club have invested lots of money in the last three or four years, so they are also waiting for results,' Maresca told TNT Sports. 'Hopefully this can be a starting point and from tonight, from this season, (we are) building something important.' The Spanish side went ahead in the ninth minute through Ezzalzouli, who scored the goal against Fiorentina that took his side to the final. Malo Gusto lost the ball and it broke to Betis captain Isco, who produced a clever pass to find Ezzalzouli on the edge of the box, with the Moroccan drilling a left-footed shot across Filip Jorgensen. Minutes later Marc Bartra tried his luck from distance but this time Jorgensen was equal to the task, producing a flying save. Urged on by their massed ranks of fans, Betis went close again when Johnny Cardoso's shot from inside the box was deflected behind. The Premier League side were enjoying the bulk of possession but struggling to create meaningful chances, with Betis defending well and Isco, a five-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, pulling the strings. Palmer magic Maresca brought on James for the struggling Gusto at the break and the English side looked livelier. Pellegrini was forced a change when goalscorer Ezzalzouli was forced off, with Jesus Rodriguez coming on to replace him. Maresca also made a number of other changes, including bringing on Sancho, but it took two moments of magic from Palmer to turn the tide. The England man produced a pinpoint in swinging cross from the right that found onrushing Argentina midfielder Fernandez, who got between two defenders to head the ball past Adrian in the 65th minute. Suddenly Chelsea's tails were up and the fans behind the goal were in full voice. Five minutes later Palmer twisted and turned before producing another superb cross that Jackson bundled into the net. Jackson should have scored a second goal but a heavy touch allowed the Betis goalkeeper to gather. But Sancho made it 3-1 when he combined with fellow substitute Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and finished from an angle and Caicedo added a fourth from the edge of the box. Victory for Chelsea breaks an astonishing cycle of wins for Spanish teams. Taking into account World Cups, European Championships, Champions League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League, of the previous 27 men's finals involving Spanish teams, all 27 had had Spanish winners. Four Spanish club sides had been defeated in that time, but in all cases by fellow La Liga sides. Earlier, the center of Wroclaw was packed with fans from both clubs, with green-and-white clad Betis fans outnumbering their English rivals. Poland's Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said police made 28 arrests after supporters clashed in the city's market square. — AFP
Express Tribune
2 hours 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 Mail
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Cole Palmer proved he's the man for the big occasions - now it's time to see the Chelsea star shining alongside Jude Bellingham for England, writes DANNY MURPHY
Cole Palmer 's match-winning performance for Chelsea in the Conference League final proved, once again, that the big occasions never faze the best players. Palmer plays with a special freedom. He's a risk-taker who's able to seize any moment to alter the course of a game. Those players are rare. Even when he wasn't scoring this season, I was never worried because he was creating chances and I'd seen enough to know what a wonderful talent he is. Palmer showed great mental strength, too, against Real Betis. It would have been easy to get frustrated with the lack of ball and space but, when you are such an intelligent player, you know the game always becomes stretched and your chance will come. When they did, he took them, providing two brilliant assists. Without Palmer, Chelsea don't win that game and without him they don't qualify for the Champions League. I loved hearing Palmer say he was fed up with playing the ball backwards and sideways. He was verbalising what the great creative players think. We live in a world where people are obsessed with ball retention. When I played, if my pass completion was over 75 or 80 per cent, I'd be annoyed. I'd been too safe. I hadn't been brave enough. I hadn't taken enough risks. You can't play as a creative midfielder in a top team and not try to open up the opposition. It frustrates me how safe so many creative players in the Premier League are. Someone has to take the responsibility. Palmer always does. He is the epitome of bravery on the ball, a shining example to young players of how to make things happen. He has never failed to do that when I have watched him play. Never. Palmer will light up bigger stages than the Conference League final, that's for sure. This is a player who's scored in a European Championship final, too, don't forget. Thomas Tuchel has to find a way to get him into the England team. I would play him alongside Jude Bellingham with Declan Rice sitting in behind. Bellingham can always drop in if England need to be more defensive because he has the physicality to do that.
Observer
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Observer
Chelsea defeat Betis 4-1 to win Conference League
WROCLAW, Poland: Chelsea roared back to beat Real Betis 4-1 in the UEFA Conference League final in Wroclaw on Wednesday, becoming the first club to claim all four major European trophies. Manuel Pellegrini's enterprising Betis caught the favourites cold with an early goal from Abde Ezzalzouli against a flat-footed and listless Chelsea. But Enzo Maresca's second-half substitutions injected energy and Cole Palmer changed the complexion of the game in a five-minute spell, setting up Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson to score. Substitute Jadon Sancho made the game safe in the 83rd minute as the Spanish side faded in their first European final and Moises Caicedo added gloss to the scoreline. Chelsea are the first club to win the full set of Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup. It is also the first silverware for the club since Todd Boehly's consortium took over from former owner Roman Abramovich in 2022, following an era of unprecedented success for the club. Boehly was on the pitch at the end, savouring the win that seemed unlikely when Betis were in control in the first half. The trophy win in Poland means Chelsea end the season with a flourish after also securing a place in next season's Champions League following a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League. "It's a great feeling," captain Reece James told TNT Sports. "As the game went on we grew into it and thankfully we scored four goals in the second half. "Coming into this competition was something we had to win. Next season we go again in the Champions League." The Spanish side went ahead in the ninth minute through Ezzalzouli, who scored the goal against Fiorentina that took his side to the final. Reece James lifts the trophy with teammates. — Reuters Malo Gusto lost the ball and it broke to Betis captain Isco, who produced a clever pass to find Ezzalzouli on the edge of the box, with the Moroccan drilling a left-footed shot across Filip Jorgensen. Minutes later Marc Bartra tried his luck from distance but this time Jorgensen was equal to the task, producing a flying save. Urged on by their massed ranks of fans, Betis went close again when Johnny Cardoso's shot from inside the box was deflected behind. The Premier League side were enjoying the bulk of possession but struggling to create meaningful chances, with Betis defending well and Isco, a five-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, pulling the strings. PALMER MAGIC Maresca brought on James for the struggling Gusto at the break and the English side looked livelier. Pellegrini was forced a change when goalscorer Ezzalzouli was forced off, with Jesus Rodriguez coming on to replace him. Maresca also made a number of other changes, including bringing on Sancho, but it took two moments of magic from Palmer to turn the tide. The England man produced a pinpoint cross from the right that found the onrushing Argentina midfielder Fernandez, who got between two defenders to head the ball past Adrian in the 65th minute. Suddenly Chelsea's tails were up and the fans behind the goal were in full voice. Five minutes later Palmer bamboozled the Betis defence, producing a wonderful turn and cross which Jackson bundled into the net. Jackson should have scored a second goal but a heavy touch allowed the Betis goalkeeper to gather. But Sancho made it 3-1 when he combined with fellow substitute Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and finished from the angle and Caicedo added a fourth from the edge of the box. Victory for Chelsea breaks an astonishing cycle of wins for Spanish teams. Taking into account World Cups, European Championships, Champions League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League, of the previous 27 men's finals involving Spanish teams, all 27 had had Spanish winners. — AFP
New York Times
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Inside Chelsea's Conference League win: Half-time team talk, after-party and Palmer's award mix-up
It was the half-time team talk that played a key role in Chelsea making history. Chelsea were 1-0 down in the Conference League final against Real Betis and looked rattled. Head coach Enzo Maresca came into the dressing room and quickly got to work. The message given to the players was clear. Sources, who, like all of those spoken to for this article, spoke anonymously to protect relationships, say that Maresca stressed how everything had to change or they would lose the game. But the Italian was upbeat, telling the group to forget what had just taken place and see the second half as like starting a new match. Advertisement Maresca also knew things had to change tactically. He was particularly focused on their issues on the right-hand side. Abde Ezzalzouli, who capitalised in the ninth minute to put Betis in front, was causing a lot of problems. There would be just one change to the line-up, with captain Reece James replacing the struggling Malo Gusto as the 'inverted' right-back. After speaking to the whole group for a few minutes, Maresca then sought out individuals to convey what he wanted from them specifically. James admitted after the game that he was disappointed not to start. But a measure of how well Maresca had got his message across and inspired the players to turn things around came from James himself. Speaking to TNT Sports following Chelsea's 4-1 victory, Maresca said: 'When we changed him, he said to me, 'Boss, don't worry, we're going to win the game'.' This was not the first time Maresca had been particularly vocal over the past week. Before beating Nottingham Forest on Sunday in their final Premier League fixture of the season to secure Champions League football, he stressed how important it would be to win these back-to-back 'finals'. He said the two results would write the last bit of the story of their season, which he already felt had been a positive progression. It was made clear that everyone should push for two wins. Having one result go well and not the other could be viewed as not a bad return but Maresca stressed that this is Chelsea and at this club, you have to aim for the maximum. And as The Athletic revealed, Maresca also gave an impassioned speech in the away dressing room following Sunday's 1-0 win. In the build-up to the Conference League final, it was all about giving it one last push. They certainly did that. All the tension in the build-up to the final was a distant memory at the afterparty, which was held in a conference room at Hotel Q, where the club stayed in Wroclaw. The players' families and close friends were staying elsewhere in the city, but they were bussed there to join in the festivities. One of the priorities for everybody there was to pose for pictures with the trophy. A queue was formed so players and staff could get a photo of it alongside their loved ones. Advertisement Along with food and drink, TV screens were provided so that footage of the entire season could be shown. Images of Nicolas Jackson's goal against Betis, which put Chelsea 2-1 up, sparked especially raucous celebrations. An insight into Jackson's mood had already been given when he came through the mixed zone at Wroclaw Stadium, where the media gather post-match to ask players for an interview. There was a Senegal flag (for Jackson's home country) draped over his shoulders, and he was holding a speaker blasting out a song. Rather than talk about how he was feeling, Jackson showed it by dancing his way onto the team bus. Nicolas Jackson was in the mood for dancing, not talking, tonight. #CFC — Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) May 28, 2025 No wonder. After being sent off against Newcastle United for violent conduct, which meant he missed the last two league games through suspension, Jackson had repaid 'the debt' Maresca said he owed his team-mates. Clips of players singing or rapping at the party were put out on various social media accounts. But the star of the show was Marc Cucurella. He seemed to enjoy taking to the stage, much to the mirth of his team-mates. Sources in attendance say one of the tunes in his repertoire is his now rather infamous 'Estrella' song. It had to be done. 🍻🥘😜@EstrellaDammUK — Marc Cucurella (@cucurella3) August 2, 2024 The hierarchy, coaching staff and academy staff were in attendance too. But this was not the time for more grand speeches. It was an opportunity for everyone to relax and enjoy themselves. There were people still in the room at 5am. Enzo Fernandez, who scored the equaliser, spent some of the event enjoying telling people how Chelsea had made history by winning all the UEFA competitions. Advertisement The midfielder was also pictured standing with Mykhailo Mudryk, who has been provisionally banned since December for failing a doping test. Mudryk, who has not been able to train at Cobham since, arrived separately in Wroclaw on Tuesday, happily posing for pictures with Chelsea fans and telling them that he was in town to get a 'winner's medal'. Chelsea had 50 to give out, and while Maresca seemed surprised when asked about the Ukraine international's whereabouts in the pre-match press conference, the club felt he merited a medal for his contribution during the league phase, where he scored three goals and registered three assists in four games. This was a theme of the build-up. Some players who had featured heavily in the earlier rounds were taken aside by staff and told their contribution was valued, even if they weren't in the starting XI for the final. The messages were appreciated despite the hint that they could miss out on a major role in the showpiece occasion. A sign of the strong team spirit was clear for all to see at open training at the stadium on Tuesday night. During the light session, there was lots of laughter and joking as the coaching staff did some fun drills. #CFC squad is in good spirits before the final. — Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) May 27, 2025 Maresca informed the players of the side he had picked in the customary team meeting held hours before kick-off. One of the players left out of the XI spoke to a close friend about his disappointment at missing out, but that he would get behind the team. Meanwhile, family members were having a pre-final get-together where they were all housed at the Hotel Monopol. One parent told The Athletic that they could not hide their tension, saying: 'I am not feeling excited, I am too sick with nerves!' Chelsea had also arranged two coaches to take them to the stadium. As the players came out to inspect the pitch beforehand, they were greeted with loud, shrill whistling from the Betis end. However, many players looked relaxed. Palmer was sharing a joke and a smile, partly helped by his close friend Tosin Adarabioyo being alongside him. James looked more serious, no doubt digesting the news that he would be on the bench to begin with. Yet such was the repartee around him, including with backup 'keeper Marcus Bettinelli, he soon broke out into a chuckle himself. A few hours later and they had even more reason to bond together. Soon after the whistle, James dragged and pushed Maresca to take the acclaim of the Chelsea fans. Initially reluctant, he did a Jurgen Klopp-style pumped-fist celebration to wild cheers. Advertisement All the Chelsea hierarchy were there too. Co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali had already been pictured sharing a rare hug in the stands. As the jubilant scenes unfolded, they were joined on the playing surface by Jose Feliciano, sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, Joe Shields and Sam Jewell. Eghbali and Boehly, whose relationship is described as professional rather than close, took it in turns to offer some warm words to Maresca. A section of supporters may still take some convincing when it comes to the man in the dugout. But Noni Madueke does not understand why there are any doubters remaining. He told The Athletic afterwards: 'The gaffer is top, man. He won the Championship last year at Leicester and he won this year in his first year at Chelsea, and qualified for the Champions League. I don't understand why there would be criticism of him.' Most of the squad wanted to get to the coach and head to the afterparty rather than discuss the evening's events with members of the media. Loud screaming could be heard from the press conference room as journalists waited for Palmer and Maresca to go through their official duties. Once done, Palmer was so distracted by the thought of getting away from a microphone, he left his man-of-the-match award behind. Fortunately, Tosin, who had come with him mainly for moral support, picked it up for him. 'You forget this!' he said with great mirth. The last month has seen Chelsea's season end on a high. After being booed off for a 2-1 loss against Legia Warsaw, a result that was still good enough to make the Conference League semi-finals, Chelsea ended the campaign with eight wins from their last nine games. 'We've improved a lot since we started,' Maresca said before leaving the stadium. 'We started to win games in an ugly way. That is something with a young squad that you struggle to do, but it is very important. 'I knew we are on the right path when we scored, and the first two guys to celebrate were Malo Gusto and Benoit Badiashile (who had both been substituted). For a manager, when you change players who are not playing good and they are the first to enjoy the celebration, that means a lot. That means that the spirit is good, we're going in the right direction, everyone is helping each other, and this is a good base to build something important.' As the squad go their separate ways before reuniting for the Club World Cup, Maresca may come to reflect on events in Wroclaw as a key foundation to his Chelsea tenure.
