Chelsea’s final game of the season is upon us, and it should be something of a celebration for Enzo Maresca and his team.
Their win on Sunday got them into the Champions League and secured their main objective of the season. Anything here is a bonus, but it could be a very enjoyable one. The Conference League is not where we want to be, but after making it all the way to the final, we will be giving it our all.
A trophy, no matter how big or small, would mean a lot to Maresca, to this ownership and their project, and to many of these young and inexperienced players.
And let’s not fall into the trap of thinking Real Betis will be a pushover like some of our opposition in the previous rounds.
In fact, after an almost embarrassingly easy run to the final against teams operating with a fraction of our budget, it’s nice to play someone in the final who is at least operating in the same galaxy as us financially. Finally, a fair fight – almost.
Even then, OPTA have Chelsea own as heavy favourites, with a 51.1% chance of winning the game in 90 minutes, which tells you everything you need to know.
So, if you’ve managed to get Conference League Final Tickets, what can you expect from tomorrow’s game in Wroclaw?
Manuel Pellegrini’s teams always play nice football, and Betis have a tradition of open attacking play. So hopefully we can expect a better game than the one we got on Sunday, where our priority was to shut down Nottingham Forest and keep their crowd out of the game as much as possible.
The return of Nicolas Jackson to lead the line should give us a little more bite up top too. He should be desperate to perform to make up for his foolish red, and should get his fair share of chances against an often shaky Betis back line.
With the pressure of an intense race to the finish line in the Premier League lifted, we’re hoping to see a liberated attacking performance from Enzo Maresca’s team. The manager has already hinted he will pick a full strength team (with the exception of Filip Jorgensen in goal), and that should mean too much firepower for Betis.
Still, they have their dangermen too – Antony has four goals and three assists in just 8 Conference League games for Betis. Cedric Bakambu has seven goals and two assists in nine games.
