Chelsea come back to beat Real Betis & win Conference League

Chelsea came from behind to beat Real Betis in the Uefa Conference League final and become the first team to complete a clean sweep of European club trophies.

With the Blues 25 minutes away from defeat in Wroclaw, Cole Palmer turned on the class to set up goals for Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson with crosses from the right.

Fernandez nodded in from Palmer's inswinger and Jackson then bundled in with his chest at the near post five minutes later.

Jadon Sancho made it comfortable with a lovely curling finish from fellow substitute Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's pass.

And Moises Caicedo added a fourth in injury time with a deflected effort from 20 yards out.

The Blues had deservedly trailed at the break when Abde Ezzalzouli fired home following a pass by the classy Isco.

The turnaround win in Poland justified Enzo Maresca's decision to put out his strongest XI in any Conference League game this season.

It makes the Blues the first team to win all five Uefa club tournaments - the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Super Cup and the defunct Cup Winners' Cup.

And it brings to an end a remarkable run - with Chelsea the first foreign team to beat a Spanish side in a final since 2002.

Spanish teams had won the past 27 finals in men's European club or international football to involve a side from that country.

This was Chelsea's first real test in the Conference League all season. They have blown away limited opposition in nearly every other game - scoring 41 goals in their first 14 games - and have been odds-on favourites to win the trophy for months.

Unlike the previous winners of Europe's third-tier tournament - Roma, West Ham and Olympiakos - the final was not one of the biggest games the Blues have played in. But it results in Chelsea's first trophy of any type since the Club World Cup in February 2022.

And it marks a successful first season for Maresca at Chelsea, having sealed a Champions League place on the Premier League's final day by beating Nottingham Forest.

Real Betis, who finished sixth in La Liga, are a cut above the other teams Chelsea have faced this season - and Maresca knew it, as he kept six of the team who beat Forest in the starting XI. In many European games this season, he had changed the entire team.

They were miles off it in the first half - and Betis could have led by two or three goals at the break.

But after the break, with Reece James replacing Malo Gusto as an inverted right-back, things got better.

And once Palmer cut in from the right before crossing for Fernandez to nod home, Chelsea never looked back.

England's Palmer, who was not even registered for the league phase, picked out Jackson to put them ahead. And then Manchester United loanee Sancho curled home and Caicedo added a late fourth.

It was apt that Dewsbury-Hall, who has played all 15 Conference League games this season, got on the pitch to assist Sancho's goal.

Chelsea's season is not finished though, as they start their Fifa Club World Cup campaign in mid-June in the United States.

This was the first European final in Real Betis' history. A lot of the talk pre-game had been about their star winger Antony, on loan from Manchester United. But in the end he was outshone by Old Trafford club-mate Sancho.

Boss Manuel Pellegrini will be left to wonder what could have been.

Five-time Champions League winner Isco picked out Ezzalzouli to drill their opener into the top corner.

Before that, Antony had headed over. After it, Marc Bartra had a long-range shot saved by Filip Jorgensen and Johnny Cardoso and Natan had shots blocked.

But they did not offer enough in the second half and many of their players were left in tears after the final whistle.

Source: BBC Sport