Chelsea have reached the final of the UEFA Conference League, completing a 5-1 aggregate victory over Djurgårdens IF with tonight’s 1-0 win in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
The other semifinal was a much closer affair.
In fact, when the final whistle blew at the Bridge, they were about to head into extra time, after matching 2-1 victories for the home team in both legs. Real Betis beat Fiorentina last week in Sevilla; Fiorentina did the same to them in 90 minutes tonight. And so into bonus football they went.
There, Betis would go on to win it, thanks to a goal set up by the absolutely revitalized Manchester United castoff, Antony. Abde Ezzalzouli couldn’t miss.
So, it’ll be a battle of United unwanteds, Antony vs. Jadon Sancho, on Wednesday (yes, Wednesday), May 28, at the Stadion Miejski in Wrocław, Poland — with an actual European trophy on the line!
(Just like Chelsea, Real Betis are fighting hard to get into the Champions League by finishing in the top-five of La Liga. They are currently sixth, but just a point behind Villarreal in fifth and four points behind Athletic Bilbao in fourth. Betis are managed by one-time Premier League-winner Manuel Pellegrini, one of Enzo Maresca’s self-admitted coaching “references”.)