Football writer Ben Bloom on what to expect from Wednesday's UEFA Conference League final featuring Chelsea.
After a dramatic final day of the Premier League season, on which Chelsea clinched fourth place and secured UEFA Champions League football for next season, attention now turns to Wednesday’s UEFA Conference League final.
Enzo Maresca’s side have been favourites to lift the trophy from the outset and have breezed through to face Real Betis, who are lining up in their first European final.
While Betis have never been in this position before, Chelsea are bidding to make history by completing their set of European trophies.
If they win the final on Wednesday, Chelsea will become the first European team to triumph in all five of UEFA’s major men’s senior club competitions, having already won two Champions Leagues, two Europa Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups and two editions of the defunct UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
Victory would also make it an historic season for the Premier League as it would be the first time five different clubs have won a trophy in the same campaign: Liverpool (Premier League), Crystal Palace (FA Cup), Newcastle United (EFL Cup), Spurs (Europa League) and potentially Chelsea (Conference League).
When and where is the final?
The final kicks off at 20:00 BST on Wednesday, 28 May, at Wroclaw Stadium in Poland.
How did each club reach the final?
Chelsea
Qualifying round:
3-2 aggregate v Servette
League phase position: 1st, W6 D0 L0
Chelsea 4-2 Gent
Panathinaikos 1-4 Chelsea
Chelsea 8-0 Noah
Heidenheim 0-2 Chelsea
Astan 1-3 Chelsea
Chelsea 5-1 Shamrock Rovers
Knockout rounds:
Round of 16: 3-1 aggregate v Copenhagen
Quarter-final: 4-2 aggregate v Legia Warsaw
Semi-final: 5-1 aggregate v Djurgarden
Real Betis
Qualifying round:
5-0 aggregate v Kryvbas
League phase position: 15th, W3 D1 L2
Legia Warszawa 1-0 Real Betis
Real Betis 1-1 Copenhagen
Real Betis 2-1 Celje
Mlada Boleslav 2-1 Real Betis
Petrocub 0-1 Real Betis
Real Betis 1-0 HJK
Knockout rounds
Knockout play-off: 3-1 aggregate v Gent
Round of 16: 6-2 aggregate v Vitoria SC
Quarter-final: 3-1 aggregate v Jagiellonia
Semi-final: 4-3 aggregate v Fiorentina
How have Real Betis fared this season?
Having just finished sixth in La Liga, Real Betis are headed for their first European final, which had appeared distinctly unlikely earlier in the season.
A mixed league phase meant Manuel Pellegrini’s side required a knockout play-off against Gent to stay in the Conference League. But they have grown as the season has worn on, losing just twice in their last 15 domestic league games.
Much of their improvement can be attributed to the mid-season arrival of Antony, who has excelled since joining on loan from Manchester United. The Brazilian scored in both legs of the semi-final win over Fiorentina, as did Moroccan winger Abde Ezzalzouli.
Experienced midfielder Isco captains the side and is the key creative force in the No 10 role, with Pellegrini promoting an attacking approach at the club.
Many Betis players have Premier League experience, including Adrian (West Ham United and Liverpool), Pablo Fornals (West Ham) and Giovanni Lo Celso (Tottenham Hotspur).
Betis might take confidence from the extraordinarily strong record of Spanish sides in UEFA competitions over recent decades.
Since the start of the 2001/02 season, all 23 Champions League, Europa League or Conference League finals with Spanish representation have been won by a Spanish team (including four all-Spanish showdowns).
If Pellegrini guides Betis to victory, he will become the first coach from Chile to win a major European trophy and, aged 71 years 254 days, the oldest coach to win a major UEFA men’s club competition.
What has Maresca said?
At the end of his first season in charge at Stamford Bridge, Maresca has made it clear that Wednesday’s final is significant both to his Chelsea reign and from a personal perspective.
"The Conference League is a starting point to build a winners’ mentality, and then to try to win more things and more titles," he said.
Maresca’s connection with the city of Seville, where Real Betis are based, runs deep. He spent four years playing for their local rivals Sevilla, where he won successive UEFA Cups, scoring twice to beat Middlesbrough in the 2006 final. The Italian also scored the only goal in a derby win over Betis in November 2005. "I know that they [Betis fans] don’t like me," he said.
The final also reunites Maresca with his former manager Pellegrini, who he played under at Malaga from 2010 to 2012 and then worked for as assistant coach at West Ham from 2018 to 2020.
"I am very close with Manuel," he said. "When we don’t work, we live in the same place. We live very close in Spain.
"Manuel is not just a colleague. For me, he’s a reference and he’s a top person.
"Today, where I am, it’s also because of Manuel, the things that I learned with him."
Team news
Given Chelsea’s superiority in the competition, Maresca has primarily used the Conference League as an opportunity to give some of his younger squad players some game time.
Whether he sticks with that outlook now that silverware is at stake remains to be seen.
Filip Jorgensen will expect to retain his Conference League spot in goal, while Maresca could ask Nicolas Jackson to lead the line after missing Chelsea’s last two Premier League matches through suspension.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has been a mainstay of the Conference League run so will hope to start.
Cole Palmer could also play as he looks for the first trophy of his Chelsea career.
Betis have injury doubts over a number of players, including Ezequiel Avila, Lo Celso, Fran Vieites, Youssouf Sabaly, Hector Bellerin, Diego Llorente and Marc Roca.
Could it affect European qualification?
The winners of the Conference League receive a place in next season’s Europa League.
As Chelsea finished fourth in the Premier League, they are already assured of a Champions League spot and would be given the choice between the two competitions if they triumph on Wednesday.
Should they select to play in the Champions League - which is a certainty - their Europa League place for winning the Conference League would not transfer to another English club.
