The team secured a place in next season’s Champions League and capped off their campaign with a dramatic comeback victory over Real Betis in Poland. ..Continue Reading
James hesitated to declare Chelsea’s season a success, instead directing attention to Cole Palmer in a post-match interview, saying: “I’ll let you answer that.” When the same question was posed to Palmer, he said: “Ask the captain.”
Chelsea secured a return to the Champions League by finishing fourth in the Premier League, sealing their spot with a final-day victory over Nottingham Forest.
Their strong finish continued with a dominant win over Real Betis, earning Enzo Maresca his first trophy since taking charge a year ago.
However, given the significant investment made by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, supporters expect Chelsea to compete for Premier League titles alongside Liverpool and Arsenal.
With Champions League football ahead, Maresca’s squad will be expected to make a deep run in the competition.
Despite an early setback in the final, Chelsea’s Conference League triumph was largely straightforward.
They cruised through the league phase without a single defeat and comfortably won all their knockout ties.
Betis briefly threatened with an early goal in Wroclaw, but Chelsea responded after halftime with a flurry of goals to secure victory.
“It’s a great feeling,” said James. “We knew the game was going to be tough, and they made it tough for us in the first half. We grew into the game as it went on and thankfully we scored four goals in the second half.”
He added: “I thought we were very flat in the first half. Things didn’t go our way early on and it looked like it took a lot out of us. We needed a reaction and we got it. Coming into this competition, it was something we had to win, and next season we go again in the Champions League.”
