There are several reasons why this treble is special. In addition to being the first team in history to win all three European titles, Chelsea might also be the first team in history to win a treble and take pride in their achievement, given how they got there.
This remarkable accomplishment, which was made only six years after Chelsea's 2019 Europa League and 2021 Champions League victories, highlights the club's difficulties since BlueCo took over. We assume that UEFA didn't want the winners to easily win a trophy that was considered beneath them when they added the Conference League to their pool of competitions. But things weren't always easy in Wroclaw.
Enzo Maresca left Reece James out of the starting lineup in favor of Malo Gusto after seemingly finally realizing that the Chelsea captain is a right-back and not a central midfielder, despite the captain's outstanding performances against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest to help secure Champions League qualification.
He was deemed deficient both with and without the ball. Everything—and a good deal of it—was getting to Gusto's side, whether it was because of Manuel Pellegrini's plan or just the allure of his discomfort. Additionally, the Frenchman was giving the ball away when Abde Ezzalzouli wasn't scuttling past him.
Three times in the first thirty minutes, Betis players cut out his passes. It turns out that Isco is the last guy you want to be passing the ball to on the edge of your box, both historically and currently.
The 33-year-old, who looked like the five-time Champions League winner after contributing 17 goals in his last 20 La Liga games, was recently called up by Spain for the first time in six years. He threw a cleverly disguised pass to Ezzalzouli, who skillfully put his shot into the far corner.
When Ezzalzouli again humiliated Gusto and Johnny Cardoso's shot went over the bar, the La Liga team should have extended their lead. Filip Jorgensen had to make a good stop to save Marc Barta from scoring. To imply that players representing a club competing in their first-ever European final may want it more than those thought to be slogging it out in a competition two rungs below the showpiece they've won twice seems unduly basic, but that's exactly how it seemed.
If Manchester United hadn't defeated Manchester City in the FA Cup final a year ago, Chelsea wouldn't be here, and they didn't appear to be there for the majority of a first half in which the treble was called into question due to the well-known cliche of aimless possession coupled with defensive weakness. Cole Palmer, though.
After the break, Chelsea were a completely different team, and although we won't give Maresca credit for correcting his Gusto/James error, he deserves his flowers. Two outstanding assists turned this game on its head, bringing his total goal contributions for this Fallow Season to 27.
Palmer turned on the same dime that was used for Enzo Fernandez's cross, which was then crossed for Nicolas Jackson to score the second goal.
Whatever he said to his team during the half worked wonders. His call to bring on Levi Colwill as the best distributor from the back was brilliant, and even though many fans were horrified when Jadon Sancho was introduced, the Manchester United loanee won the trophy with Chelsea's third goal before Moises Caicedo, who was named Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year, scored the appropriate fourth goal.
It may be the best half of Chelsea's football season, and as Dream famously states, "things can only get better."
Two weeks ago, I expressed my misgivings about Maresca's style and stated that he should be fired regardless of the outcome of the season. However, it is tough to not be pleased by what he has accomplished with such an inexperienced squad—yes, we will say that.
The age distribution of this team made this Conference League title feel much more significant than it would normally be for a club of Chelsea's size. They were the first team to play in a European final without a player older than 27 since Red Star Belgrade in 1979.
It now appears that a young team with a penchant for winning trophies will be strengthened by the elite additions made possible by the wealth of Champions League qualification and the Club World Cup entry alone. If not next season, then most likely the season after that, and then possibly for the next ten seasons, Chelsea may be about to do something truly remarkable.
Although Chelsea could win two trophies to Liverpool's one, this one has been pretty good too—about as good as it could have been. Better than Arsenal's? Champions League football and a trophy; perhaps another one is on the horizon. So, yes. Better than Liverpool's? Probably not if we're talking about pure football. However, what matters more than the actual football is the money.
In addition to earning £15.7 million for winning the Conference League, Chelsea would also receive £47.9 million for finishing fourth in the Premier League, and a Club World Cup victory would increase their season prize fund to £160.7 million, while Liverpool would receive £137.3 million.
Liverpool is a long way from Chelsea, but even though this trophy isn't exactly a game-changer to frighten their competitors in the Premier League and Europe, the momentum it threatens to build in a young, extremely talented team that will have matured over the past week will be enough to make them appear like dark horses in the short term before they become a favorite for those big gongs in the not-too-distant future.
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