Chelsea are the 2025 Conference League champions. In typical Chelsea fashion, they did not do it the easy way. But finals are not supposed to be straightforward.
It was Real Betis who took the lead early on, with Abde Ezzalzouli finding the bottom corner with a wonderful strike. Betis supporters outnumbered their Chelsea counterparts and all the noise was coming from what essentially looked like a green wall behind Adrian's goal in the first-half.
The Blues, however, produced a much improved display in the second period and found a way past Adrian through Enzo Fernandez on 65 minutes. Moments later, Nicolas Jackson gave Chelsea the lead before goals from Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo put the final beyond any reasonable doubt.
A significant victory for the club, with it being the first piece of silverware since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over from Roman Abramovich three years ago. It was also the first major honour under head coach Enzo Maresca, who all things considered has done an exceptional job in his debut season at Stamford Bridge.
A win of such magnitude sparked colossal celebrations at full-time. Boehly, Behdad Eghbali, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart were among the first to celebrate with Maresca and his coaching staff. They all huddled together close to the dugout and were jumping up and down while others involved at the club were running onto the pitch to celebrate with the players.
Marc Cucurella is some character. We all know that. He loves to be the pantomine villain at away grounds, that much is clear, but he is absolutely adored by Chelsea supporters. The Spaniard had a nice moment with the travelling fans, where he ran up to them and did multiple fist pumps, each of them greeted with a cheer from the crowd.
Malo Gusto, hooked at half-time after a disastrous performance, was amongst the celebrations with his teammates. It would have been difficult for him mentally to be taken off on such a big occasion but post-match, he did not seem too bothered and was rightly enjoying the celebrations with his teammates on the pitch.
The Chelsea players made their way over to behind the goal where their supporters were located and at the right time, 'Freed From Desire' - the 1997 dance anthem from Gala - came on the speakers. The players were then arm in arm jumping up and down to the tune, while at the other end of the pitch, the emotions could not have been any more different.
The Betis players were stood in front of their fans, almost staring them out in an apologetic manner. To be fair to the Betis supporters, it looked as if every single one of them was still there in attendance while their players embraced them. The fans of the Spanish team were magnificent during the game.
But this was all about Chelsea. Jackson scored what could be the biggest goal of his career to date and despite leaving the pitch with an injury shortly after finding the back of the net, his movement did not seem restricted post-match. The striker jumped over the advertising hoardings to get closer to the fans, with a Senegal flag wrapped around him, all this while Pedro Neto was dancing next to him.
Across the pitch, the goalkeepers had a nice moment. Robert Sanchez, Lucas Bergstrom and Filip Jorgensen all did a knee slide in front of the fans which produced yet another loud cheer. There was no sign of Marcus Bettinelli for the knee slide-athon but the Chelsea goalkeeper was there and involved in the celebrations.
Cucurella seemed to be at the centre of everything - as he often is. The Spaniard got absolutely soaked by his teammates Sanchez, Neto and Jackson with Lucozade and water being squirted in his direction. The left-back had a smile on his face despite his luscious locks being wet.
All of this happened before the trophy was even presented to the Chelsea players. They made their way to the halfway line but the runners up always go first. The Chelsea players formed a guard of honour for the Betis team, who appreciated the classy gesture from the opposition.
But then it was time for the main moment. The moment Reece James has been waiting for. His first trophy as Chelsea captain. James, who changed the game when he came on for the second-half, lifted the Conference League trophy high into the Wroclaw night sky, with Queen's 'We Are The Champions' coming on the stadium's speaker system.
Among the celebrations were Boehly and Eghbali as they took in such a significant moment for them in their tenure at the club. It was then time for the Chelsea players to parade the trophy in front of their supporters and James was keen to let Maresca have his moment. The Chelsea skipper pushed the head coach towards the fans and the Italian preceded to pump his fist numerous times, much to the joy of the supporters behind the goal.
It really was a special night for all those wearing blue in Wroclaw. One that will live long in the memories, but as Maresca said post-match, hopefully a "starting point" for this young squad.