The Build-Up
Chelsea entered the 2024–25 season aiming to rebuild under manager Enzo Maresca. Despite an inconsistent domestic league campaign, they managed to secure a 4th-place finish in the Premier League, clinching a spot in next season’s Champions League. In Europe, Chelsea enjoyed an impressive run in the UEFA Conference League, winning 11 of their 12 matches en route to the final.
Real Betis, managed by Manuel Pellegrini, had a commendable season, showcasing attacking flair and tactical discipline. They finished sixth in La Liga, earning a place in next season’s Europa League. Their European campaign was equally impressive, with a series of strong performances leading them to their first-ever appearance in a European final.
Journey to Wrocław: Comparing the Finalists’ Runs
We looked at the finalists’ offensive power, defensive solidity, and passing profiles. Here’s a quick radar chart comparison, to get a sense of their strengths.
Offensive Threat: a comparison across 6 key per-game stats: goals, big chances, total shots, shots on target, successful dribbles, and corners, plus how dangerous they were on the break..
Defensive Resilience: A straight comparison across key defensive stats: tackles, interceptions, ball recoveries, clean sheets, last-man tackles, as well as costly errors** that led to shots or goals.
** The errors are shown inversely so that, like the other indicators, higher values reflect better performance.
Passing Profiles: We’re looking at possession and passing accuracy (%) in five categories: overall, own half, opposition half, long balls, and crosses.
These graphs show that Chelsea tend to dominate through structured buildup, creating big chances, whereas Betis thrive on solid defending and vertical transitions, striking with speed on the counter.
Kickoff!
The final, held at Wrocław Stadium in Poland, saw Betis take an early lead in the 9th minute through Abde Ezzalzouli, assisted by Isco. Betis maintained a high-tempo attacking style and carried their advantage into halftime, showing control and composure.
Nine minutes into the second half, goal scorer Ezzalzouli was forced off due to injury, a setback that slightly diminished Betis’s attacking threat. Chelsea’s resurgence began in the 65th minute when Enzo Fernández headed in a pinpoint cross from Cole Palmer. Growing increasingly dominant, Chelsea struck again just five minutes later, with Palmer setting up Nicolas Jackson to give them the lead. Jadon Sancho extended the advantage in the 83rd minute with a well-placed shot, and Moisés Caicedo sealed the victory in stoppage time with a deflected effort.
This triumph marked Chelsea’s completion of victories in all five major UEFA men’s competitions, a historic achievement for the club.
What will be etched in memory after this encounter?
- Abdessamad Ezzalzouli becomes the second Moroccan player to score in a the final of this competition, following Ayoub El Kaabi, who did so in 2024.
- Enzo Fernández is the first South American to score in the final of this competition.
- Chelsea is the first team to concede the opening goal and still come back to win a UEFA Conference League final.
- This is the highest-scoring final in the competition’s short history.
- After Chris Smalling (2022) and Jarrod Bowen (2023), Cole Palmer is the 3rd English player to win the Man of the Match award in the final.
- Chelsea becomes the first club to win all five major UEFA trophies: Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Cup Winners Cup, and Super Cup.
- Since 2001, every European final featuring a Spanish team ended with the Spanish side lifting the trophy. This final broke that 24-year streak.
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