Showing posts with label UEFA Conference League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UEFA Conference League. Show all posts
Saturday, 29 August 2026
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
CRYSTAL PALACE VS. RAYO VALLECANO SCORE, STATS, UPDATES, HIGHLIGHTS FOR UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE FINAL 2026
The third tier of European football will come to a conclusion as the UEFA Conference League final kicks off between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday, May 27 from Leipzig, Germany.
Palace finished 15th in the Premier League this season after a late-season collapse, but made a run through European competition as they beat the likes of AEK Larnaca, Fiorentina, and Shakhtar Donetsk en route to the final.
Rayo, meanwhile, managed to pair league and European competition well this season, but finished just outside the UEFA qualifying places in La Liga, as their eighth-place standing saw them fall just a point short.
Thus, only the winner of this match will return to Europe next season with the Europa League berth, while the loser will drop out of continental competition in the 2026/27 campaign.
The Sporting News is following the Crystal Palace vs. Rayo Vallecano match live, providing score updates, commentary, and analysis.
Crystal Palace vs. Rayo Vallecano live score
Crystal Palace vs. Rayo Vallecano key moments
Lineups: We have the starting XI for both sides ahead of this European final!
For Crystal Palace, defender Chris Richards is only fit enough for a place on the bench, even as Sky Sports claimed he would start an hour ago. Adam Wharton is good to go from the off after being subbed at halftime of their final Premier League match against Arsenal.
For Rayo Vallecano, there are no surprises, as former Newcastle centre-back Florian Lejeune, now 35 years old, anchors the back line while veteran midfielder Unai Lopez mans the middle of the pitch.
Prematch: Many U.S. fans will be hoping that Chris Richards does not appear in today's match, allowing him extra rest before a critical summer of World Cup football.
However, this match means the world to Crystal Palace. The chance to win a European trophy, even the Conference League, is enormously valuable to a mid-table side like the Eagles. Additionally, the automatic berth in next year's Europa League would allow Palace to continue its trajectory of growth towards becoming an annual top-half side in the English top flight.
Crystal Palace vs. Rayo Vallecano team news
Crystal Palace team news
- American defender Chris Richards suffered a nasty ankle sprain towards the end of the Premier League season and is a major doubt to participate today after Oliver Glasner said there was still swelling to subside.
- Eddie Nketiah suffered a hamstring injury in training that has restricted him to just 12 league appearances this season.
Rayo Vallecano team news
- Rayo Vallecano are hoping that Ilias Akhomach will be fit after returning to training from an adductor injury that sidelined him for the semifinal against Strasbourg.
- Luiz Felipe has a serious hamstring injury that ended his season and left him out for this match, needing surgery which comes with a four-month recovery time.
Crystal Palace trophies won in club history
The first major trophy in Crystal Palace history was won last season, as the Eagles lifted the 2024/25 FA Cup. They then won the ensuing Community Shield to begin the following season, giving them two major trophies in club history.
Crystal Palace have never won a European trophy.
They have also won lower-league trophies, including two EFL Championship titles and one Third Division title.
- KYLE BONN
Thursday, 29 May 2025
Wednesday, 28 May 2025
UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE FINAL: FOOTBALL FAN ON RYANAIR FLIGHT TO WROWCLAW FINDS HIMSELF SAT NEXT TO FORMER CHELSEA AND ENGLAND PLAYER JOE COLE
A Chelsea fan on a Ryanair flight to Wroclaw, Poland for the UEFA Conference League final found himself sat next to a football star.
Football Away Days posted a picture that the Chelsea fan had shared of himself and Joe Cole sat next to each other on a Ryanair flight to Wroclaw. The Europa Conference League final will take place tonight at 8pm with Chelsea taking on Real Betis.
One user commented on the post saying that is “class”. The UEFA Conference League was only introduced in 2021 and the Blues are looking for a win, after guaranteeing themselves a place in next season’s Champions League.
Real Betis vs Chelsea is scheduled for a 8pm BST kick-off tonight, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. The match will take place at Stadion Wroclaw in Wroclaw, Poland.
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| A Chelsea fan on a Ryanair flight to Wroclaw, Poland for the UEFA Conference League final found himself sat next to a football star. (Photo: Facebook/Football Away Days) | Facebook/Football Away Days |
In the UK, the game will be televised live on TNT Sports. Coverage starts at 6.30pm BST on TNT Sports 1 ahead of kick-off at 8pm. Joe Cole is in Poland ahead of Chelsea’s Conference League final.
In a career spanning two decades, the midfielder made 514 club appearances and earned 56 caps for England. He played in three World Cups for England and is especially remembered for his outstanding long-range volley against Sweden in the group stages of the 2006 World Cup.
His most memorable time was at Chelsea, where he won three Premier League titles, the FA Cup three times, the League Cup, Charity Shield and Player of the Season award. Since retiring in 2018, Joe Cole has remained active in football, transitioning into punditry and coaching.
- Isabella Boneham
CHELSEA'S MARESCA SAYS CONFERENCE LEAGUE 'BEST COMPETITION IN THE WORLD'
Wroclaw (Poland) (AFP) – Enzo Maresca said he had to convince his Chelsea players this season that the UEFA Conference League was the "best competition in the world" as he prepares for Wednesday's final against Real Betis.
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| Enzo Maresca faced the media ahead of the Conference League final in Wroclaw |
The Premier League club are seeking to end their campaign with a flourish in Wroclaw after securing a Champions League spot for next season.
If they beat Betis in Poland, Chelsea would become the first club to win all four major UEFA competitions, having previously won the Champions League, the Europa League and the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup.
Maresca, in his first season as manager at Stamford Bridge, said he had been forced to stress the importance of Europe's third-tier club competition to his players.
"Probably the most complicated thing this season about the Conference (League) has been to convince the players that for us it was the best competition in the world," he told reporters on Tuesday.
"And the reason why was because it was the competition that we were in."
Chelsea are two-time European champions but have not won silverware since lifting the Champions League in 2021 under former boss Thomas Tuchel, now in charge of England.
"We cannot play Champions League if we are in the Conference (League), or we cannot play Europa (League). We are in the Conference, so for us it was the most important competition, and we need to try to win that.
"If we are able to win, I think it's a good thing, especially because we continue to build a winning mentality."
Chelsea, favourites from the start, have reached the final in eye-catching style, scoring a competition-record 38 goals so far and winning 11 of their 12 matches.
Maresca, 45, will pit his wits against 71-year-old Manuel Pellegrini, a man he describes as a football "father figure" after playing under him at Malaga and serving as assistant coach at West Ham.
The Seville-based club, playing in their first European final, finished sixth in La Liga.
'Outburst'
Maresca rounded on his critics after his youthful side secured fourth spot in the Premier League on Sunday with a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest, even using an expletive.
The average age of Chelsea's starting XI is the youngest ever in a single Premier League campaign.
Maresca's men were within touching distance of eventual champions Liverpool in mid-December before stumbling badly, but results picked up again towards the end of the campaign.
On Tuesday he described Sunday's eruption as an "outburst" in the heat of the moment.
"From our point of view, they (critics) were not talking in the right way," he said.
"And the reason why is because, yes, we are young, yes, we are the youngest squad in the history of the Premier League, but at the same time, they are men.
"So I also used what critics had said to say, 'Guys, today (Sunday) is a chance that we can say that we are not young, we are mature enough, we can compete and we can do the right things'."
The former Leicester boss said sealing a Champions League place for next season had been a huge relief.
"We feel much better," he said. "I said a few times during the season that for me it was already a good season for different reasons.
"It can become a very good season if we finish top four, top five and if we are able to win the final tomorrow.
"The first target is there. We achieved that last Sunday and hopefully we can achieve tomorrow the second one."
- © 2025 AFP
Friday, 9 May 2025
DETAILS OF THE 2024/25 EUROPEAN FINALS
🚨OFFICIAL: All the details of the 2024/25 European finals 🏆
🇫🇷 PSG - Paris Saint-Germain vs Inter 🇮🇹 — Champions League
📅 Saturday, May 31st
🏟️ Allianz Arena
🏴 Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur🏴 — Europa League
📅 Wednesday, May 21st
🏟️ Allianz Arena Mamis
🏴 Chelsea Football Club vs Real Betis Balompié 🇪🇸 — Conference League
📅 Wednesday, May 28
🏟️ Mieski Stadium.
Friday, 8 November 2024
CHELSEA SET CONFERENCE LEAGUE RECORD 8-0 ROUT OF FC NOAH
Chelsea set a UEFA Conference League record with an emphatic 8-0 win over Armenian side FC Noah at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.
João Félix and Christopher Nkunku each scored twice for the Premier League club, who were six goals to the good by half-time. Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Axel Disasi and Mykhailo Mudryk scored the other goals as Chelsea recorded the biggest win in the competition's history.
The previous largest margin of victory in the Conference League, which began in 2021, was six goals.
The result also equals the second-biggest win in Chelsea's history. The club's largest victory remains a 13-0 triumph over Luxembourgian side Jeunesse Hautcharage in 1971.
Chelsea sit top of the Conference League standings during the league phase with a maximum nine points from three games.
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| Axel Disasi, right, and Christopher Nkunku were among the goal scorers in Chelsea's 8-0 rout of FC Noah. Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images |
"The players once again showed how professional and serious they are," Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca told reporters.
"It's easy to sleep or fall down in this type of game. Football is full of surprises. What I asked them before the game was to show how serious we are, how professional, and they showed that."
The home crowd had to wait only until the 12th minute for the opening goal, when Adarabioyo headed in a corner kick before the second came a minute later with Guiu intercepting a poor defensive pass before slotting home.
Another headed goal from a corner came through Disasi after 18 minutes, and in the 21st Félix gathered a pass from Enzo Fernández and slipped his shot under the keeper.
Mudryk curled a beautiful shot into the top corner six minutes before the break to make it five, and Félix netted his second two minutes later.
After six goals in the opening half, Chelsea took their foot off the gas, but Frenchman Nkunku did manage a brace, knocking in a rebound after his initial shot was saved in the 69th minute and then converting a penalty seven minutes later.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
- ESPN News Services
Friday, 23 August 2024
ENZO MARESCA:CHELSEA STILL NEED TIME TO LEARN DESPITE FIRST WIN
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| Getty |
Enzo Maresca said his players still need time to learn his system, despite getting his first win as Chelsea manager against Servette on Thursday.
Chelsea beat the Swiss side 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League playoff, thanks to second-half goals from Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke.
Maresca describe the win as "important" after suffering a 2-0 loss to Manchester City to begin the Premier League season on Sunday. But he acknowledged that his team could have better managed the latter stages of the game, during which Servette hit the crossbar.
"The last 10 minutes we played a little bit with fire," Maresca said in a news conference. "I was a bit worried. We could have managed the game in a different way. I expected it because we are in a moment of learning things.
"In some moments the intention to keep the ball is the correct one, especially when you are 2-0 up, but where is not good. We tried to manage the ball in the last 10 or 15 minutes in our side of the pitch, we need to do exactly the same on the opposite side of the pitch. We didn't concede, but from there we can learn.
"All of them need more time to know better the system. Tonight was also not easy in terms of physical condition for some of them."
Chelsea made nine changes from the team that lost to City but did enough to get a result that puts them in pole position to finish the job in the second leg in Geneva in a week's time in order to reach the Conference League group stage.
Nkunku scored with a penalty in the 50th minute after being brought down in the box by Servette goalkeeper Jeremy Frick. Madueke then came off the bench to give the London side some breathing room with a powerful finish in the 76th minute.
"I really like Noni," Maresca said of Madueke. "The only problem with Noni is he has to understand he has to be consistent during the week, every training, every training, every training, but he is a good player and he is doing well since he started with us. He is the kind of player I like.
"The only thing he has to improve is to be consistent every day, work hard, and then he will get minutes for sure."
Chelsea's start to season has been dominated by talks of comings and goings, with England internationals Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell not included in the squad for Thursday's game and Maresca confirming that both are available for transfer. Meanwhile, latest signing João Félix was presented to fans ahead of the game.
One player who remains at the club is Mykhailo Mudryk, despite struggling since a €100 million move to Stamford Bridge in January 2023. The Ukraine winger played a rare 90 minutes on Thursday and Maresca said he will work to help Mudryk "change."
"This is the mission, this is Mudryk, not only tonight but since he joined the club," he said. "I think he had good moments but when he has the ball you don't know if you'll get one thing or another. It is consistency. We are going to try and help him to change.
"When he is in the final third it is is taking the right decision. Most of his mistakes are about the choice."
- ESPN
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