In choosing the greatest club in Europe, most soccer fans will not look the way of Chelsea, but last Wednesday, they accomplished what no other club in Europe have achieved. By winning the UEFA Conference League, Chelsea became the first club to win every trophy in European club football.
Their victory at the Tarczyński Arena in Wroclaw, Poland did not come in a platter of gold, in fact Chelsea were 25 minutes away from defeat before Cole Palmer produced master class crosses that saw Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson score to turn the game around.
Jardon Sancho sealed victory for the English side with a sumptuous curling finish from fellow substitute Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s pass.
Moises Caicedo who looked like Victor Osimhen with his mask added the icing on the cake with a deflected effort from 20 yards.
Real Betis were all over Chelsea from the blast of the whistle and were deservedly ahead in the ninth minute when Abde Ezzalzouli fired home following a pass by Isco.
This victory makes the Blues the first team to win all five UEFA club tournaments namely the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Super Cup and the defunct Cup Winners’ Cup.
Chelsea thus became the first foreign team to beat a Spanish side in a final since 2002.
Spanish teams had won the past 27 finals in men’s European club or international football to involve a side from that country.
Chelsea won their first Champions League 2012.
Recall that Chelsea have won the Champions League in 2012, when they defeated Bayern Munich of Germany on penalties after full and extra time ended 1-1 and in 2021 when they defeated fellow English side, Manchester City by a lone goal.
Similarly the Blues have won the Europa League twice. In 2013 when they defeated Benfica of Portugal 2-1 and in 2019 when they were 4-1 better than fellow English side Arsenal with Nigerian international Alex Iwobi scoring the Gunners’ only goal.
Chelsea are two-time winners of the defunct Club Winners’ Cup. They emerged champions in 1971 and 1998. In 1971 they defeated Real Madrid of Spain 2-1 in a replayed final after the initial final ended 1-1.
In 1998, the Blues defeated VfB Stuttgart of Germany by a lone goal.
Chelsea have emerged champions of the UEFA Super Cup in two occasions. In 1998, they defeated Real Madrid by a lone goal and in 2021, they defeated Villarreal another Spanish side 6-5 on penalties after full and extra time had ended 1-1.
