Euro Title to Spark 'Winning Mentality'

Maresca hopes Conference League win will be catalyst for bigger successes for Chelsea

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WROCLAW - The Conference League was not where Chelsea wanted to be, but their victory in the competition's final in Poland could prove to be a turning point for a club who had lost their trophy-winning habit.

The English Premier League team beat Real Betis 4-1 on May 28, recovering strongly from being outplayed in the first half by their La Liga opponents at the Wroclaw Stadium.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca's second-half substitutions lifted his team but an inspired Cole Palmer was the catalyst for victory, producing two pinpoint crosses for Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson after Abde Ezzalzouli had scored an early goal for Betis.

Jadon Sancho's fine finish made it 3-1 and Moises Caicedo added a fourth in stoppage time to give the Blues their first silverware since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital acquired the club in May 2022 from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

Maresca, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, said that he hoped winning the Conference League would be a launchpad for bigger and better things to come.

"Hopefully, it can be a starting point to build a winning mentality. You need to win games. You need to win competitions," the 45-year-old Italian said.