Betis ´devastated´ by Chelsea Conference League collapse, says Pellegrini – Soccer News

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Manuel Pellegrini described his Real Betis players as “devastated” after a second-half collapse saw them lose the Europa League final to Chelsea 4-1 in Wroclaw.

Betis were fantastic in the first half of Wednesday’s showpiece and deservedly led at half-time after the superb Isco teed up Abde Ezzalzouli for a ninth-minute opener.

Indeed, Ezzalzouli’s strike was the earliest goal in a major European final since Romelu Lukaku scored in the fifth minute for Inter against Sevilla in the 2019-20 Europa League showpiece.

Chelsea showed a marked improvement after the break, though, as Cole Palmer set up Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson to complete the turnaround, before Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo sealed the deal late on.

“They are devastated. We couldn’t maintain what we did in the first half,” Pellegrini said when reflecting on the defeat.

“We were causing them problems through Abde, but he sprained his ankle, and we had to replace him. Still, we should be proud of the way we played, and the rest is football.

“We played a great first half, we scored a goal, we had a couple more clear chances, but in the second half we were affected by injuries, Abde for instance, and we couldn’t hurt Chelsea any more, and they started hurting us.

“We played a really good first half, and in the second half they were better and got the goals that won them the final. A season in which we qualified for Europe and reached a final is a step forward, and I am sure the fans agree.”

When taking into account World Cups, European Championships, Champions League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League, the past 27 finals involving Spanish clubs had returned a remarkable 27 winners.

Betis fell short of making it 28 in what was their first major European final, the 12th Spanish side to do so.

They have now won just once against English sides in nine attempts, coincidentally against Chelsea in the 2005-06 Champions League, but they will play at a higher level of continental competition in the Europa League next term.

“For Betis, qualifying for Europe and reaching a final is already quite a feat. We can’t even start thinking about the Europa League final,” Pellegrini added.

“We have had a really good season – unfortunately we couldn’t win this title, but we will start working on the team for next season tomorrow.”

Former Real Madrid playmaker Isco was sublime in the opening 45 minutes but, like his team-mates, was a little more subdued after the break.

He said Betis simply did not know how to take advantage of the deserved lead they held at the break.

“I think we took refuge in the scoreboard a bit. We sat too deep. They’re a team with a lot of quality, a lot of power,” said Isco, a five-time Champions League winner with Madrid.

“It’s a very heavy defeat after what we did in the first half. Football is unforgiving.

“We had a good first half where they barely had any chances. We had it close and we didn’t know how to take advantage of the score, something that has penalised us all season. In a European final, mistakes are very punishing.

“In the second half, they ran over us. It’s painful.”