Chelsea 4 – 1 Real Betis
Chelsea came alive after the break to overturn a first-half deficit and cruise to a 4-1 win over Real Betis in the UEFA Conference League final on Wednesday at Wroclaw Stadium, with Cole Palmer’s brilliance driving the comeback.
Despite trailing 1-0 at halftime after Abde Ezzalzouli’s early strike for Betis, Chelsea responded with four unanswered goals. Enzo Fernández and Nicolas Jackson both scored from Palmer assists before late goals by Jadon Sancho and Moisés Caicedo sealed the title.
Palmer, 23, was named Player of the Match after producing two assists in five minutes that changed the momentum in Chelsea’s favor.
The win makes Chelsea the first club to have won all four of UEFA’s major men’s competitions. The Conference League title — introduced in 2021 — now joins their Champions League (2012, 2021), Europa League (2013, 2019), and the now-defunct Cup Winners’ Cup (1971, 1998) in their European trophy cabinet.
“I thought in the first half we were flat,” said Chelsea captain Reece James, who came on at halftime. “The game didn’t go our way early on and it looked like it took a lot out of us. We needed a reaction in the second half, and we got it.”
Betis, who looked shaky early on, eventually settled and found the opener in the ninth minute when Isco picked out Ezzalzouli unmarked at the edge of the box. He made no mistake, drilling a low shot past the keeper.
Chelsea dominated the second half, seizing control of midfield and relentlessly pressing for an equaliser. That breakthrough came in the 65th minute, when Palmer’s pinpoint cross found Fernández slipping between two defenders to nod in the leveller.
Just five minutes later, Palmer turned provider again — this time wriggling past his marker at the byline to send in a low cross that Jackson bundled home with his chest to give Chelsea the lead.
Sancho added a third with a brilliant curling effort into the far corner, and Caicedo’s late goal capped off a commanding performance, clinching Chelsea’s seventh major European trophy.
The result also ended a long streak of Spanish dominance in European men’s finals. Spanish clubs had won all 23 continental finals involving their teams since 2001-02, including four all-Spanish finals. Betis, hoping for their first-ever European title, couldn’t withstand Chelsea’s second-half surge.
Instead, it was a night of celebration for Enzo Maresca, who finishes his debut season as Chelsea manager with a European trophy and a fourth-place finish in the Premier League — ensuring Champions League football next season.
The victory also marks the club’s first piece of silverware under American owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, who took over in 2022 and made significant investments in the squad.
The final, however, was marred by unrest in Wroclaw ahead of kick-off, with authorities arresting 28 people following fan disorder in the Polish city.
