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

Many wondered however overmuch winning the Conference League would mean to Chelsea - but determination were fewer doubts astatine the last whistle.

Nearly each play the Blues person walked implicit their absorption successful Uefa's third-rate tournament, but they were truly tested by Real Betis successful Wroclaw, particularly successful the archetypal half.

However, 4 second-half goals were each wildly celebrated - and the players past partied aft the 4-1 win arsenic overmuch arsenic if they had won immoderate different large trophy.

Cole Palmer, the antheral of the match, acceptable up goals for Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson, with Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo besides netting.

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

"You tin spot what it means to them and however important it is to triumph it.

"This is what it's about. It's astir creating that enslaved and that acquisition of winning a trophy."

It was Chelsea's archetypal trophy since the Fifa Club World Cup successful February 2022 and their archetypal considered a large prize since the 2021 Champions League.

The club's erstwhile midfielder Joe Cole, watching for TNT Sports, said: "People crook their noses up astatine it but look astatine each the smiling faces among the players, the staff, the fans. This is what it is each about."

Fellow pundit Lucy Ward added: "People mock this trophy but this volition mean a batch to this acceptable of Chelsea players due to the fact that it is simply a level to determination connected into the Champions League this season."

BBC Sport takes a look astatine the communicative of Chelsea's Conference League campaign.

Chelsea's European run really astir ended successful August.

The Conference League is the lone 1 of Europe's competitions wherever English clubs person to spell done a play-off round.

The Blues led Servette 3-0 connected aggregate 14 minutes into the 2nd leg, having won 2-0 astatine Stamford Bridge and taken an aboriginal pb successful Geneva.

But Servette pulled 2 goals backmost and, aft a hold successful the crippled arsenic fireworks were fto off, the hosts astir scored successful the 94th infinitesimal to unit other time.

"This benignant of game, astatine the end, you person galore things to suffer and not galore things to win," said brag Enzo Maresca afterwards, pursuing conscionable his 4th crippled successful charge.

Rotating and resting players successful secondary cups is not a caller improvement - but Chelsea took it to a caller level successful the Conference League this season.

They averaged 8.5 changes per European game, based connected their erstwhile Premier League line-up.

In the league signifier determination was a recognised Premier League squad and a Conference League XI - with precise small overlap. They were overmuch changed successful the home cups too, though fell astatine the 2nd hurdle successful both.

England guardant Palmer, their prima player, was not adjacent registered successful Europe until the knockout games.

As the Blues started playing successful knockout games they started utilizing much first-team players, similar Palmer, Caicedo and Marc Cucurella.

But adjacent done that they ne'er made less than 5 changes from their past league game, including the final.

As the play ends, well, until adjacent month's Fifa Club World Cup, 18 Chelsea players featured successful much Conference League than Premier League games this season.

That includes 5 players who near the nine successful January.

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

Marc Guiu, whose six goals were 2 shy of the Conference League Golden Boot, has yet to commencement a league game.

However, the last saw a stronger XI, with lone 4 outfield changes from the broadside that bushed Nottingham Forest past Sunday to clinch a Champions League spot.

"Chelsea person got truthful overmuch much wealth than anyone other competing successful this competition," said ex-Blues winger Pat Nevin connected BBC Radio 5 Live.

"But they person respected the contention by saying, 'we're not going to enactment retired the softest of teams but we'll enactment retired capable to marque definite we'll get through'.

"I person to say, looking backmost connected it each now, Enzo Maresca has done a large job."

Chelsea person fixed plentifulness of youngsters crippled clip successful the Conference League this season.

Six players who person yet to marque their Premier League debut person featured successful Europe for them this season.

That includes 16-year-old Reggie Walsh, who became Chelsea's youngest subordinate since 1967 erstwhile helium played some legs of their semi-final against Djurgarden.

Eight academy players person made their debut successful the competition, with 13 appearances for 19-year-old guardant Tyrique George, compared to 11 successful home games.

Seven of 19-year-old defender Josh Acheampong's 9 starts for Chelsea person been successful the Conference League.

"It's decidedly a stepping chromatic to men's football," helium said of the Conference League.

Samuel Rak-Sakyi, 20, played 4 times successful the league phase, but his astir elder home shot has been successful the EFL Trophy with Chelsea's under-23s.

However, with the trophy connected the line, nary of them featured successful the showpiece against Betis.

Chelsea played a fewer unfamiliar names this play successful Europe's third-tier tournament.

Before Real Betis, the lone squad from Europe's apical 5 leagues they met were Heidenheim, who ended the play playing successful the German relegation-promotion play-offs.

"The information Chelsea are present coming aft we've won the archetypal 3 games is honestly rather hard to believe," said Heidenheim brag Frank Schmidt, who has been successful complaint since they were a fifth-tier broadside successful 2007.

"But the information is they're not coming present for a friendly, we don't person to wage them. It's a competitory fixture. Heidenheim and the full portion are truly excited."

Chelsea welcomed Armenian broadside FC Noah, named aft the biblical quality with the ark, to Stamford Bridge.

"Being successful the Conference League is simply a spotlight for the club, to amusement ourselves to European football, due to the fact that present everybody knows who Noah is," said Noah brag Rui Mota.

"It's an honour to person this game."

Then came their longest ever European trip, a 7,000-mile circular travel to Kazakhstan to play Astana.

The formation took 8 hours, having to debar a nonstop formation way implicit Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East, amid aggregate ongoing conflicts. Many first-team players were near successful London.

With a five-hour clip portion difference, the Blues acted arsenic if they remained connected UK time, making the kick-off 15:30 alternatively of 20:30 section clip - and past the crippled was played successful -11C.

Maresca and 2 directors wrote a missive to the Chelsea fans who attended, personally thanking them.

And they adjacent had large talking points until the semi-finals and their lucifer connected the integrative transportation of Djurgarden.

Even the Swedish side's manager called his ain side's transportation "horrible", though it did not origin problems successful the end.

That Servette scare successful August was the closest Chelsea came to going retired each season.

They cruised done successful different ties, with each radical crippled won by 2 oregon much goals. Every knockout tie, including the final, was won by 2 oregon much goals.

The biggest triumph was the 8-0 rout of Armenian broadside FC Noah successful November. That was the joint-second biggest triumph successful Chelsea's past and the Conference League's biggest triumph truthful far.

That took them to 16 goals successful their archetypal 3 league games, and ended connected 26 successful six games. Including the qualifiers, they netted 45 times successful 15 games.

The Noah occurrence led ex-Blues and England midfielder Cole to accidental connected TNT Sports: "Chelsea shouldn't beryllium successful this competition, but this is wherever they are.

"This tourney doesn't commencement for Chelsea until the quarter-finals oregon semi-finals. They are monolithic favourites to triumph it and they should be."

They ne'er trailed successful immoderate knockout round, beating Copenhagen 3-1 connected aggregate, Legia Warsaw 4-2 and Djurgarden 5-1.

Trailing to Abde Ezzalzouli's extremity astatine half-time successful the last gave them a scare - but they took bid aft the break.

After a 5-1 triumph implicit Shamrock Rovers successful December, the Irish side's manager Stephen Bradley said: "If they privation to, they tin amusement up and astir apt enactment different 2 XIs retired determination and triumph this competition.

"If they're successful the Champions League they could spell adjacent to winning that. That's the level they have."

Previous Conference Leagues person been celebrated hugely.

Roma, nether Jose Mourinho, ended a 14-year trophy drought erstwhile they bushed Feyenoord successful 2022.

Jarrod Bowen's last-minute victor for David Moyes' West Ham against Fiorentina successful 2023 earned the Londoners a archetypal trophy successful 43 years.

By beating Fiorentina past year, Olympiakos became the archetypal Greek broadside to triumph a European nine trophy.

But for Chelsea - the archetypal winners utilized to lifting erstwhile European silverware - it did not consciousness the aforesaid successful the build-up. They did not adjacent merchantability retired their 12,500-ticket allocation for the final.

But determination were nary muted celebrations astatine the extremity arsenic their players, unit and fans wrong the stadium appeared to bask it arsenic overmuch arsenic thing other they person won.

Defender Levi Colwill, 22, said: "You tin spot the mode the fans are celebrating now, it shows however overmuch it means to them."

So what next?

"The Chelsea fans are precise demanding due to the fact that they are utilized to winning," added Cole, who won 3 Premier Leagues with the Blues.

"Now they person seen this squad win, they person much belief, the players person much belief. I consciousness similar determination is simply a truly bully epoch coming."