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Chelsea beat Real Betis 4-1 to win UEFA Conference League

Chelsea roared back to beat Real Betis 4-1 in the UEFA Conference League final in Wroclaw on Wednesday, becoming the first club to complete a clean sweep of European trophies.

Manuel Pellegrini’s enterprising Betis caught the favourites cold with an early goal from Abde Ezzalzouli against a flat-footed and listless Chelsea.

But Enzo Maresca’s second-half substitutions injected energy, and Cole Palmer changed the complexion of the game in a five-minute spell, setting up Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson to score.

Substitute Jadon Sancho made the game safe in the 83rd minute as the Spanish side faded in their first European final, and Moises Caicedo added gloss to the scoreline.

Chelsea are the first club to win the full set of five UEFA club tournaments — the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Super Cup and the now-defunct Cup Winners’ Cup.

They have also won their first silverware since Todd Boehly’s consortium took over from former owner Roman Abramovich in 2022, following an era of unprecedented success for the club.

Boehly was on the pitch at the end, savouring the win that seemed unlikely when Betis were in control in the first half.

Chelsea have ended the season with a flourish after also securing a place in next season’s Champions League following a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League.

Maresca, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, said he hoped Conference League glory would be a launchpad for the club.

“The club have invested lots of money in the last three or four years, so they are also waiting for results,” Maresca told TNT Sports.

“Hopefully this can be a starting point and from tonight, from this season, (we are) building something important.”

The Spanish side went ahead in the ninth minute through Ezzalzouli, who scored the goal against Fiorentina that took his side to the final.

Malo Gusto lost the ball and it broke to Betis captain Isco, who produced a clever pass to find Ezzalzouli on the edge of the box, with the Moroccan drilling a left-footed shot across Filip Jorgensen.

Minutes later, Marc Bartra tried his luck from distance, but this time Jorgensen was equal to the task, producing a flying save.

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Urged on by their massed ranks of fans, Betis went close again when Johnny Cardoso’s shot from inside the box was deflected behind.

The Premier League side were enjoying the bulk of possession but struggling to create meaningful chances, with Betis defending well and Isco, a five-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, pulling the strings.

Maresca brought on James for the struggling Gusto at the break, and the English side looked livelier.

Pellegrini was forced to make a change when goalscorer Ezzalzouli was forced off, with Jesus Rodriguez coming on to replace him.

Maresca also made a number of other changes, including bringing on Sancho, but it took two moments of magic from Palmer to turn the tide.

The England man produced a pinpoint inswinging cross from the right that found onrushing Argentina midfielder Fernandez, who got between two defenders to head the ball past Adrian in the 65th minute.

Suddenly, Chelsea’s tails were up and the fans behind the goal were in full voice.

Five minutes later, Palmer twisted and turned before producing another superb cross that Jackson bundled into the net. Jackson should have scored a second goal, but a heavy touch allowed the Betis goalkeeper to gather.

But Sancho made it 3-1 when he combined with fellow substitute Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and finished from an angle, and Caicedo added a fourth from the edge of the box.

Victory for Chelsea breaks an astonishing cycle of wins for Spanish teams.

Taking into account World Cups, European Championships, Champions League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League, of the previous 27 men’s finals involving Spanish teams, all 27 had had Spanish winners.

Four Spanish club sides had been defeated in that time, but in all cases by fellow La Liga sides.

Earlier, the centre of Wroclaw was packed with fans from both clubs, with green-and-white clad Betis fans outnumbering their English rivals.

Poland’s Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said police made 28 arrests after supporters clashed in the city’s market square.

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Kylian Mbappe opens La Liga account in Real Madrid’s victory over Real Betis

Kylian Mbappe answered his critics in style as he opened his La Liga account with two goals to give Real Madrid a 2-0 win over Real Betis at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday which sends them second in the table.

Since scoring in the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta, new signing Mbappe had failed to find the back of the net in Madrid’s opening three games in La Liga, prompting criticism in the Spanish press.

Kylian Mbappe was made to wait for his goals as he squandered a series of chances, finally finding the back of the net in the 67th minute, sweeping the ball past the Betis goalkeeper with his left foot after a well-timed back-heel from Fede Valverde.

Eight minutes later the France captain added a second from the penalty spot and was cheered off the field when he was replaced by Luka Modric in the 84th minute.

The smile on Mbappe’s face was in contrast to the concern that had been shown since scoring his first goal and winning his first trophy in Warsaw on August 14.

On Saturday, coach Carlo Ancelotti hit back at the criticism, insisting that his star recruit was settling in well.

“It’s true that he hasn’t scored but he’s playing very well and has been very dangerous every time. I don’t think he has any problems adapting,” said Ancelotti, pointing instead to his team’s lack of balance.

Madrid’s 2-0 win takes them second in the table with eight points, four behind early leaders Barcelona who eviscerated Real Valladolid 7-0 on Saturday to make it four wins from four in La Liga under new coach Hansi Flick.

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Atletico Madrid are third after a late victory in Bilbao on Saturday while Villarreal are fourth, both of them also on eight points.

Girona are fifth after picking up their second win of the season in Seville.

Ivan Martin put Girona ahead in the 41st minute with Abel Ruiz wrapping up a 2-0 win over Sevilla with a penalty in the 73rd minute.

Goals from Carlos Vicente and Luka Romero gave Alaves a 2-0 win over Las Palmas while Osasuna are in seventh after an exciting 3-2 win at home against Celta Vigo.

Ante Budimir teed up Flavien Boyomo to put the home side ahead after 21 minutes but the lead was short-lived as Borja Iglesias levelled for Celta.

A Carlos Dominguez own goal just before the break put Osasuna back in front with Abel Bretones adding a third just after the hour.

Celta were reduced to 10 men when Alfonso Gonzalez was sent off four minutes from time but an own goal from Moi Gomez was a small consolation in the last minute.

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Barcelona thrash Real Betis to move closer to LaLiga title

BARCELONA: Andreas Christensen, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha scored goals as Barcelona outclassed 10-man Real Betis 4-0 on Saturday to consolidate their position at the top and moved a step closer to their 27th LaLiga title.

With only six games remaining, Barca dominate the standing with 79 points, 11 ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who beat Almeria 4-2 earlier in the evening.

The result took Barca back on track after they faced a surprise 2-1 defeat to Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday.

Barcelona opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a point-blank header from Christensen following a cross from Raphinha.

Unsettled Betis suffered a setback in the 33rd minute when Edgar Gonzalez was sent off for two bad bad tackles, 21 minutes after he came off the bench to replace injured Luis Felipe.

The host capitalized on the advantage, scoring twice within three minutes before the break thanks to strikes by Lewandowski and Raphinha.

LaLiga top scorer Lewandowski increased his tally to 19 for the season with a first-touch shot from inside the box assisted by Jules Kounde in the 36th minute.

A couple of minutes later Raphinha hit Barca’s third goal of the night but the effort was initially ruled out his effort for offside before a VAR check overturned the decision.

With a victory in sight, the Catalan side relaxed a bit after the break but still managed to extend their lead through Guido Rodriguez’s own goal while he was trying to clear a cross from Ansu Fati inside six yards.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, thrashed Almeria 4-2 at Bernabeu after Karim Benzema scored thrice in the first half and a goal from Rodrygo in the second half.

The hat trick saw the French forward surpass Hugo Sanchez as the fourth-highest scorer in La Liga history with 236 goals.

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Celta Vigo claim first win of the season, Real Betis maintain perfect run

SPAIN: Celta Vigo have clinched their first triumph of the ongoing La Liga 2022-23 season as skipper Iago Aspas struck and powered the side to an away victory at Girona, while Real Betis thumped Osasuna 1-0 to maintain their unbeaten run.

The two sides went hard at each other in the first half and apparently got a chance to secure the breakthrough but failed to make it count.

Celta Vigo skipper Aspas then made no mistake and took just a few minutes and arrowed home to hand his side a much-needed lead that lasted till the final whistle.

The rest of the match followed a tense battle between the two teams and a series of substitutions but it all went in vain as the scoreboard remained intact at 1-0 despite the extra time.

In another match, however, Real Betis carried their domination over Osasuna and enhanced their unbeaten run over the latter to nine matches with a home 1-0 victory on Friday.

Betis are currently undefeated after three games in the ongoing La Liga season and lead the standings by nine points, followed by Villarreal and Real Madrid, who each have six points, and are in second and third place, respectively.

The visiting side posed the majority of scoring threats in the early stages of the game before Los Verdiblancos star Borja Iglesias struck in the 34th minute to put Betis in front.

Betis sought to build on their lead in the second half, but German Pezzella’s late red card thwarted their chances and had to settle for a 1-0 victory over Osasuna.

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