With two games of the season to go, Chelsea are in fifth place in the league and they will not win a domestic trophy in 2024/25. For a club that has won four Premier League titles, six FA Cups, three League Cups, two Champions Leagues and two Europa Leagues this century, that is simply not good enough.
Enzo Maresca’s men are battling for a spot in next term’s Champions League and if they do qualify, most likely it will be through the good fortune of fifth place being sufficient. However, in fairness, they have played a part in earning the extra Champions League spot for the Premier League through their performances in the Europa Conference League.
This third-tier UEFA tournament is now where they wanted to be, or expected to be but it was where they found themselves heading into this campaign. And they have made the most of their opportunity by easing through the league phase and then progressing to the final. The fans want more but, at the same time, they can enjoy and celebrate any trophy.
The Conference League final takes place on Wednesday the 28th of May 2025 and if the Blues can win, not only will they give the fans something to cheer, they will also make history.
Chelsea on Cusp of Unprecedented Quadruple
The 2025 Conference League final is set: Real Betis vs Chelsea 🤩#UECL pic.twitter.com/ir9wQVMkEM
— UEFA Conference League (@Conf_League) May 8, 2025
Back in 2013, Chelsea joined a small and elite club of European greats. Their name went alongside Juventus, Ajax and Barcelona as the only teams to have ever won all three major UEFA-sanctioned European trophies. At that time those were the no-longer extant European Cup Winners’ Cup, the UEFA Cup/Europa League and the European Cup/Champions League.
The Cup Winners’ Cup ceased to exist back in 1999 when it was subsumed into the Europa League. The Blues have won it twice, in 1971 and 1998, and of course now the chance to win it has passed. Juve, Ajax, Barca and the Pensioners will forever be the only four clubs to have won that tournament as well as the two more prestigious competitions UEFA has organised.
Now, of course, there is also the Europa Conference League, a competition that was first held in 2022. Roma won it then, and were followed by some small east London club in 2023, and then Greek outfit Olympiakos last term.
Chelsea did not expect themselves to be playing in it and neither will Ajax, Barca or Juve. Of those three, it is only really Juventus that might possibly find themselves condemned to the Europa Conference League but even that seems rather unlikey. As such, should Maresca’s men deliver the goods on the 28th May, not only will they become the first team to win all four UEFA tournaments, but they may well be the only team to do for many years.
Will Chelsea Do It?
Perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves, given how inconsistent Chelsea have been this term. The Blues are the odds-on favourites to land the 2025 Europa Conference League but it is not a forgone conclusion. They are priced at odds of 2/5 with the bookies to win the final, with Spanish opponents Real Betis on offer at 9/4. So Maresca’s men should win, but it would be wrong to consider Betis without a chance.
Real Betis
Real Betis are one of La Liga’s mid-ranking teams and are based in the delightful Andalusian city of Seville. Their one and only success in the Spanish top flight came way back in 1935 and they have, in fact, spent many years outside La Liga. They have won the second-tier title seven times and have even dropped as low as the third over the years.
They won the Copa del Rey in 2022, which is their most recent piece of silverware, whilst they sit sixth in La Liga with two games to play. Their big points advantage over the teams below them means they will qualify for the Europa League next term and they have had a very solid season in 2024/25.
They have several players who will be familiar to English fans, including former Leeds United defender Diego Llorente, ex-Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin, captain Isco and Antony, who is on loan from Man United. Antony was a bit of a laughing stock in English football but has been superb in Spain. The Brazilian boasts eight goals and five assists from 23 outings with Betis and has been especially potent in the Conference League, where eight games have brought seven goal involvements.
Betis only finished down in 15th in the league phase, some eight points behind the Blues, who topped the pile with a 100% record. Since then, Betis have beaten Gent, Portuguese side Vitoria de Guimaraes, Poles Jagiellonia Bialystok, and, rather more impressively, Italian side Fiorentina.
This competition has few strong sides and Betis have beaten what was in front of them but Chelsea will be a huge step up. Fiorentina are a decent outfit but they are down in ninth in Serie A so are hardly pulling up trees. Moreover, Chelsea’s final opponents needed extra time in the second leg to scrape past the 4-3 on aggregate.
Chelsea to Make History
Given the ease with which Maresca’s side waltzed through the league phase and their obvious superiority, we have to believe that they will make history in the final. The game will take place in Poland, in Wroclaw, and Chelsea’s strength in depth, class and club experience of winning trophies will make them too strong for Betis.
Whilst Spanish clubs have a superb record in UEFA competition, and have a habit of getting the better of Premier League teams when it counts, we think Chelsea will ease to the win here. They have used their squad depth to make it this far without really having to hit top gear and come the final, we think they will blend some of their best players with some of those who have got them this far.
Maresca named a stronger squad for the knockout phase of the competition than he had for the earlier rounds. Cole Palmer was the most obvious addition, with Trevoh Chalobah, who has impressed of late, also coming in. We expect Palmer and co to help Chelsea become the first team to complete the quadruple… though let’s hope the club never find themselves in this competition ever again!