2025 UEFA Conference League final
Match programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 2024–25 UEFA Conference League | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 28 May 2025 | ||||||
| Venue | Wrocław Stadium, Wrocław | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Cole Palmer (Chelsea)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina)[2] | ||||||
| Attendance | 39,754[3] | ||||||
| Weather | Partly cloudy night 15 °C (59 °F) 84% humidity[4] | ||||||
The 2025 UEFA Conference League final was the final match of the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League, the fourth season of Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the first season since it was renamed from the UEFA Europa Conference League to the UEFA Conference League. It was played at the Wrocław Stadium in Wrocław, Poland, on 28 May 2025, between Spanish club Real Betis and English club Chelsea.[5]
Chelsea won the match 4–1 to secure their first UEFA Conference League title, thus becoming the first club to win all four major European trophies and all three of the current European competitions.[6] Chelsea also became the first non-Spanish side to defeat a Spanish club in a European final since 2001, when Bayern Munich won against Valencia in the Champions League final.[7] As Chelsea already qualified automatically for the league phase of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League through their league position, the berth reserved for the UEFA Conference League winners in the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League was vacated.
The three-goal margin of victory in this match was the largest in a Conference League final, which saw the first three winners prevailed by a single-goal margin. This match was also the highest-scoring Conference League final.[8]
Background
Real Betis reached their first ever European final.
This was Chelsea's thirteenth European final and the first UEFA Conference League final appearance. They had won two titles in each of the three pre-1999 major European competitions; the UEFA Champions League in 2012 and 2021, the Cup Winners' Cup in 1971 and 1998, and the UEFA Europa League in 2013 and 2019, in addition they have also won two UEFA Super Cups, in 1998 and 2021. The club has lost four European finals, the 2008 UEFA Champions League final and the 2012, 2013 and 2019 UEFA Super Cups. As they win the final, they became the first club to have won all four major European trophies.
The clubs had faced each other four times; twice in the quarter-finals of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and twice in the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League group stage.[9] Chelsea won three of those encounters, defeating Betis 2–1 in Seville and 3–1 in London to secure a 5–2 aggregate victory en-route to the Cup Winners' Cup title, and triumphing 4–0 in their home fixture in the 2005–06 season. However, Betis claimed victory in the most recent meeting between the sides, winning 1–0 in Seville later that stage. Despite that loss, Chelsea advanced to the round of 16 by finishing second in the group, while Betis placed third and moved into the UEFA Cup—ultimately won by their city rivals, Sevilla.
Previous finals
| Team | Previous final appearances |
|---|---|
| Real Betis | None |
| Chelsea | None |
Venue
The Wrocław Stadium in Wrocław, known as the Tarczyński Arena for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Śląsk Wrocław. The stadium opened in September 2011,[10] and has a capacity of 42,771.[11] The venue previously hosted matches at UEFA Euro 2012. The match will be the third single-leg UEFA club final to be played in Poland, after the UEFA Europa League finals in 2015 and 2021.
Host selection
On 21 June 2022, UEFA opened the bidding process for the final, which was held in parallel with that of the 2024 final. Interested bidders could bid for either one or both of the finals. The proposed venues had to include natural grass and be ranked as a UEFA category four stadium, with a gross capacity of between 30,000 and 50,000 preferred. The bidding timeline was as follows:[5]
- 21 June 2022: Applications formally invited
- 31 August 2022: Closing date for registering intention to bid
- 7 September 2022: Bid requirements made available to bidders
- 3 November 2022: Submission of preliminary bid dossier
- 23 February 2023: Submission of final bid dossier
- 28 June 2023: Appointment of host
The UEFA Executive Committee appointed the Wrocław Stadium as the host during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on 28 June 2023.[12]
Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).
| Real Betis | Round | Chelsea | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Qualifying phase | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | 5–0 | 2–0 (A) | 3–0 (H) | Play-offs | Servette | 3–2 | 2–0 (H) | 1–2 (A) |
| Opponent | Result | League phase | Opponent | Result | ||||
| Legia Warsaw | 0–1 (A) | Matchday 1 | Gent | 4–2 (H) | ||||
| Copenhagen | 1–1 (H) | Matchday 2 | Panathinaikos | 4–1 (A) | ||||
| Celje | 2–1 (H) | Matchday 3 | Noah | 8–0 (H) | ||||
| Mladá Boleslav | 1–2 (A) | Matchday 4 | 1. FC Heidenheim | 2–0 (A) | ||||
| Petrocub Hîncești | 1–0 (A) | Matchday 5 | Astana | 3–1 (A) | ||||
| HJK | 1–0 (H) | Matchday 6 | Shamrock Rovers | 5–1 (H) | ||||
| 15th place Advanced to knockout phase play-offs |
Final position | 1st place Advanced to round of 16 | ||||||
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Knockout phase | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Gent | 3–1 | 3–0 (A) | 0–1 (H) | Play-offs | Bye | |||
| Vitória de Guimarães | 6–2 | 2–2 (H) | 4–0 (A) | Round of 16 | Copenhagen | 3–1 | 2–1 (A) | 1–0 (H) |
| Jagiellonia Białystok | 3–1 | 2–0 (H) | 1–1 (A) | Quarter-finals | Legia Warsaw | 4–2 | 3–0 (A) | 1–2 (H) |
| Fiorentina | 4–3 | 2–1 (H) | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (A) | Semi-finals | Djurgårdens IF | 5–1 | 4–1 (A) | 1–0 (H) |
Match
Summary
Real Betis took the lead in the ninth minute after Isco played a ball across towards Abde Ezzalzouli, who slotted the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. Betis pushed for another goal soon after, with Marc Bartra having an effort from outside the penalty area tipped over by Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen. And in the 20th minute, Ezzalzouli came forward again for Betis, evading two Chelsea players before squaring the ball across to Johnny Cardoso who's effort was deflected over the bar by Benoît Badiashile.[13]
In the 65th minute, Chelsea found their equaliser after Cole Palmer crossed the ball into the penalty area, where Enzo Fernández managed to head the ball beyond Betis goalkeeper Adrián and draw the game level. Five minutes later, Palmer played another cross into the penalty area, this time touched into the goal by Nicolas Jackson to complete the turnaround for Chelsea. In the 78th minute, a quick Chelsea counter-attack saw Jackson and Jadon Sancho in a two against one against the Betis goalkeeper. Despite being through on goal, Jackson took a heavy touch, and the opportunity was missed. However, Sancho would get his goal in the 83rd minute, when he cut inside on his right foot before curling his effort into the back of the net. Moisés Caicedo then wrapped up the win in the first minute of added time with a shot that deflected off defender Natan before beating Adrián down his bottom-right hand side. With the victory, Chelsea became the first team to win all five UEFA club tournaments, including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, UEFA Super Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.[14]
Details
The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was predetermined as the winner of semi-final 1 (Real Betis).
| Real Betis | 1–4 | Chelsea |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
Real Betis[4]
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Chelsea[4]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[2]
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Match rules
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Statistics
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See also
- 2025 UEFA Champions League final
- 2025 UEFA Europa League final
- 2025 UEFA Women's Champions League final
- 2025 UEFA Super Cup
- Chelsea in international football
- Real Betis in European football
- 2024–25 Chelsea season
- 2024–25 Real Betis season
References
- ^ a b "Cole Palmer named official 2025 UEFA Conference League final Player of the Match". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Referee teams for 2025 UEFA club competition finals announced". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ a b "Full Time Report Final – Real Betis v Chelsea" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Lineups – Final – Wednesday 28 May 2025" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
- ^ a b "Invitation to bid for the 2023/24 and 2025/25 UEFA Europa Conference League finals and the 2025/25 UEFA Women's Champions League final". UEFA Circular Letter. No. 40/2022. Union of European Football Associations. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ^ "Real Betis 1–4 Chelsea: The Blues complete the set with Conference League success". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
- ^ "IFFHS continental stats – UEFA Conference League final". IFFHS. 29 May 2025. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
- ^ "Finals | History | UEFA Conference League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- ^ "Real Betis vs Chelsea: What to look out for in the UEFA Conference League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 12 May 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
- ^ "Stadion Miejski we Wrocławiu". stadiony.net (in Polish). Retrieved 7 May 2025.
- ^ "Fakty i liczby" (in Polish). Tarczyński Arena Wrocław. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
- ^ "Lisbon to host UEFA Women's Champions League final in 2025". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
- ^ "Chelsea and Cole Palmer storm back at Real Betis to win Conference League". Guardian. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
- ^ Begley, Emlyn (28 May 2025). "Chelsea 4–1 Real Betis: Chelsea come from behind to thrash Betis & win Conference League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
- ^ a b c "Team statistics" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.