Widely mocked, wildly celebrated – how Chelsea won the Conference League

At the conclusion of the final match, many people were left wondering what winning the Conference League would mean for Chelsea.

The Blues have been out of the opposition in Uefa’s third-rate tournament almost all season, but Real Betis put them really to the test in Wroclaw, especially in the first half.

However, four second-half goals were all wildly celebrated – and the players then partied after the 4-1 win as much as if they had won any other major trophy.

Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson both scored goals from Cole Palmer, with Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo also scoring.

Former Blues keeper Mark Schwarzer, a BBC Radio 5 Live summariser for the game, said, “Winning this trophy is massive.

“You can see what it means to them and how important it is to win it.

It is about this, exactly. It’s about fostering that experience of winning a trophy.

It was Chelsea’s first trophy since the Fifa Club World Cup in February 2022 and their first considered a major prize since the 2021 Champions League.

Joe Cole, a former club midfielder, told TNT Sports, “People turn their noses up at it but look at the smiling faces among the players, the staff, the fans. It is all about this.

Fellow pundit Lucy Ward added:” People mock this trophy but this will mean a lot to this set of Chelsea players because it is a platform to move on into the Champions League this season. “

Chelsea’s European campaign actually almost ended in August.

Only one of Europe’s competitions requires English clubs to advance through a play-off round in the Conference League.

After winning 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and building a late lead in Geneva, the Blues had taken a 3-0 overall lead heading into the second leg.

But Servette pulled two goals back and, after a delay in the game as fireworks were let off, the hosts almost scored in the 94th minute to force extra time.

Rotating and resting players in secondary cups is not a new phenomenon – but Chelsea took it to a new level in the Conference League this season.

Based on their previous Premier League lineup, they changed 8.5 times per European game on average.

There was little overlap between the Premier League and the Conference League XI in the league stage. They were much changed in the domestic cups too, although fell at the second hurdle in both.

Prior to the knockout games, England’s star player, Palmer, was not even registered in Europe.

More first-team players like Palmer, Caicedo, and Marc Cucurella started appearing in knockout games as the Blues increased their use of them.

But even through that they never made fewer than five changes from their last league game, including the final.

18 Chelsea players participated in more Conference League games than Premier League games this year as the season progressed, well, until the Fifa Club World Cup begins.

Five players left the organization in January, to name just five.

Midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who played all 15 European games, featured 13 times in the league.

Marc Guiu has not yet started a league game, despite having six goals that were two goals shy of the Conference League Golden Boot.

Only four outfield adjustments were made to the team that defeated Nottingham Forest last Sunday to claim a Champions League spot, which was a stronger XI in the final.

” Chelsea have got so much more money than anyone else competing in this competition, “said ex-Blues winger Pat Nevin on BBC Radio 5 Live.

They have resisted the competition by saying, “We’re going to put out the softest of teams, but we’ll put out enough to ensure we’ll get through.”

This season, Chelsea have given a lot of young players games in the Conference League.

Six Premier League players have made their first appearances in Europe this year.

That includes 16-year-old Reggie Walsh, who became Chelsea’s youngest player since 1967 when he played both legs of their semi-final against Djurgarden.

In contrast to the 11 domestic players who made their debut in the competition, 19-year-old forward Tyrique George made 13 appearances.

Josh Acheampong, 19, started nine games for Chelsea in the Conference League.

“It’s definitely a stepping stone to men’s football”, he said of the Conference League.

Samuel Rak-Sakyi, age 20, played four league games, but his most notable domestic success came with Chelsea’s under-23s in the EFL Trophy.

In the third-tier tournament in Europe, Chelsea took on a few unfamiliar faces this year.

Before Real Betis, the only team from Europe’s top five leagues they met were Heidenheim, who ended the season playing in the German relegation-promotion play-offs.

Heidenheim boss Frank Schmidt, who has led the club since 2007, said: “The fact that Chelsea are now coming after we’ve won the first three games is honestly quite unbelievable.

“But the truth is that we don’t have to pay them because they’re not coming here for a friendly.” It’s a competitive fixture. The region and Heidenheim are both very excited.

FC Noah, an Armenian side named after the biblical figure with the ark, was welcomed to Stamford Bridge by Chelsea.

“Being in the Conference League is a spotlight for the club, to show ourselves to European football, because now everybody knows who Noah is”, said Noah boss Rui Mota.

“It’s a privilege to have this game.”

Then came their longest-ever trip to Europe, traveling 7, 000 kilometers round-trip to Kazakhstan to play Astana.

The flight took eight hours, having to avoid a direct flight path over Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East, amid multiple ongoing conflicts. In London, many first-team players were disbanded.

The Blues played the game in -11C because of a five-hour time difference and decided to stay on UK time by kick-off at 15:30 instead of 20:30 local time.

Maresca and two directors wrote a letter to the Chelsea fans who attended, personally thanking them.

Up until the semi-finals and their match on Djurgarden’s plastic pitch, they even had significant conversation points.

Chelsea came the closest to leaving the season with that Servette scare in August.

Every group game, which they won by two or more goals, was a tally that they managed to maintain. Every knockout tie, including the final, was won by two or more goals.

The Armenian side FC Noah’s 3-0 victory over them in November was their biggest victory. That victory was both Chelsea’s biggest win of the conference league and its second-most significant victory thus far.

That took them to 16 goals in their first three league games, and ended on 26 in six games. In 15 games, they scored 45 goals, including the qualifiers.

Cole, a former England and Blues midfielder, said on TNT Sports: “Chelsea shouldn’t be in this competition, but this is where they are.”

” This tournament doesn’t start for Chelsea until the quarter-finals or semi-finals. They should be the clear favorites to win it.

In any knockout round, they defeated Legia Warsaw 4-2, Djurgarden 5-1, and Copenhagen 3-1 on aggregate.

Trailing to Abde Ezzalzouli’s goal at half-time in the final gave them a scare – but they took command after the break.

After defeating Shamrock Rovers 5-1 in December, Irish manager Stephen Bradley said: “If they want, they can show up and probably put out another two XIs out there and win this competition.

Previous Conference League victories have been enormously celebrated.

Roma, under Jose Mourinho, ended a 14-year trophy drought when they beat Feyenoord in 2022.

The Londoners won their first trophy in 43 years when Jarrod Bowen scored in the final minute for David Moyes’ West Ham’s 2023 victory over Fiorentina.

Olympiakos became the first Greek club to bring home a trophy from Europe last year when they defeated Fiorentina.

But for Chelsea – the first winners used to lifting previous European silverware – it did not feel the same in the build-up. Their 12,500-ticket allocation for the final was not even sold out.

However, the final moments of the game didn’t result in muted celebrations because the stadium’s players, staff, and supporters all appeared to enjoy it just as much as anyone else they had triumphed over.

Defender Levi Colwill, 22, said: “You can see the way the fans are celebrating now, it shows how much it means to them”.

What comes next, then?

Cole, who has three Premier League victories with the Blues, continued, “The Chelsea fans are very demanding.”