Familiar Betis and Pellegrini the pawns in Maresca's search for winning move

Victory in Poland tonight will make Chelsea the first English team to win all four European titles, and much of their manager's strategy is rooted in chess

- Jacob Steinberg

Now for the bonus prize. After the joy of achieving their main goal for the season by securing a return to the Champions League with victory against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, a triumph that led Enzo Maresca to narrow his eyes, dial down the charm and tell critics of his young side to "eff off", there is little pressure on Chelsea's men before they attempt to lift the first piece of silverware of the BlueCo era by beating Real Betis in the Uefa Conference League final tonight.

The stakes are low. The opponents look awkward but vulnerable. For Chelsea, the sense is that this is one to tick off before they rejoin Europe's elite. After all, they are aware they have been a strange presence in the Conference League. This is not a place for a squad built at a cost of over £1bn. The financial reward is minimal and prestige is not on offer. Chelsea, who were champions of Europe four years ago, are hardly going to be feted if they win a tournament that Uefa invented for sides operating on much smaller budgets.

Maresca's side have cruised since coming through a playoff against Servette last August. In fact, there was little chance of the Thursday-Sunday schedule tiring Chelsea out before Christmas. They did not even bother registering Cole Palmer for the league phase. Maresca simply handed opportunities to academy players, gave minutes to his squad's lesser lights and still saw his B-team wallop sides from Armenia, Kazakhstan and Ireland. As for the knockouts, Chelsea probably could have put Todd Boehly up front and still beaten FC Copenhagen, Legia Warsaw and Djurgården with something to spare.