Real Betis are on the hunt for a first European trophy in the 2024/25 UEFA Conference League final, while Chelsea are chasing their ninth.
We pick out some key talking points ahead of the decider in Wrocław.
The set-up
All Real Betis' 2024/25 Conference League goals
This is Real Betis' first European final, but they have plenty of experience in their ranks, not least 33-year-old creative midfielder Isco (a four-time UEFA Champions League final winner with Real Madrid), 34-year-old striker Cédric Bakambu and coach Manuel Pellegrini, who has an intimate knowledge of English football; he won the Premier League title as Manchester City boss in 2013/14 and was later in charge of West Ham (when Chelsea boss Maresca was his assistant). Betis also have a Conference League winner in their ranks – midfielder Pablo Fornals won the competition with West Ham in 2022/23.
Chelsea boss Maresca started his coaching journey looking after youth teams under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, and he sets his sides up in a similar fashion, looking to dominate possession. The Blues have plenty of exciting young talent, but a core of relatively experienced players have been central to their Conference League knockout stage successes – left-back Marc Cucurella, midfielders Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Jadon Sancho and Christopher Nkunku.
The key statistics
All Chelsea's 2024/25 Conference League goals
Chelsea have won 11 of their 12 Conference League games this season, while Betis have won only half of their 14 (D3 L4). The Blues are also the competition's runaway top scorers, with 38 goals: eight more than their nearest rivals Fiorentina and 16 more than Betis (who played two more games than Chelsea, having made it to the round of 16 via the knockout round play-offs).
However, Betis are a team packed with quality and experience, while Bakambu has scored seven goals in this season's Conference League (only Jagiellonia's Afimico Pululu has hit more). Betis defender Natan, meanwhile, will end the campaign having played more minutes than any other player in this season's Conference League, with 1204 (124 more than any other player).
The previous meetings
Chelsea's Tore André Flo (top) celebrates a goal at Betis in 1998
Chelsea's Tore André Flo (top) celebrates a goal at Betis in 1998Getty Images
Chelsea have fond memories of their previous encounters with Betis (W3 L1). In the most significant of them, Gianluca Vialli's Blues overcame Luis Aragonés' Betis in the quarter-finals of the 1997/98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup on the way to winning the trophy. Tore André Flo struck twice in the first 12 minutes as they won the first leg 2-1 in Seville, and it was 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, Frank Sinclair, Roberto di Matteo and Gianfranco Zola the scorers.
More recently, the clubs were paired in the Group G of the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League. José Mourinho's Chelsea won their home game against Betis 4-0 (Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole and Hernán Crespo the scorers). Some pride was restored in the return leg, as Dani's goal earned a 1-0 win for Lorenzo Serra Ferrer's side. Chelsea finished second in the section, Betis third.
The Polish connection
Highlights: Legia Warszawa 0-3 Chelsea
Both teams have already been to Poland for the first time this season, indeed the final will be Betis' third visit. They lost 1-0 at Legia Warszawa in the league phase, and then followed up a 2-0 home win against Jagiellonia Białystok with a 1-1 away draw to get to the semi-finals. Chelsea also met Ekstraklasa opponents in the quarter-finals, winning 3-0 in the first leg at Legia ("The atmosphere was great, it was a privilege to play in it," said coach Maresca) before losing 1-0 at home – their only Conference League loss of the campaign.
Betis have had a couple of Polish players in the past too. Forward Wojciech Kowalczyk was at the club from 1994-97 while French-born Poland international defender Damien Perquis (whose ancestors were from Strzyżewko) had an injury-wracked spell in Seville from 2012-15. Chelsea have never fielded a Polish player at senior level, but current international goalkeeper Marcin Bułka spent three years at Stamford Bridge as a teenager from 2016-19.