The Premier League season is in the books, so all that remains for Chelsea FC manager Enzo Maresca and his team is the UEFA Europa Conference League Final vs Real Betis. The first season of the Maresca era resulted in Champions League qualification, the first time that’s happened during the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital regime. Now it’s time for the first piece of silverware to be won.
On Championship Sunday, Maresca reflected on the campaign. “We were in four competitions at the beginning of the season,” he said.
Conference League Final FYIs
Chelsea FC vs Real Betis
Kick-off: 8pm UK/3pm ET, Wednesday May 28th, Stadion Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
Chelsea FC Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
TV: CBS Sports Network (USA) TNT Sports 1 (UK)
“Today (on Sunday) we finished in the Champions League. If we are able to win on Wednesday, we are out of the FA Cup and Carabao, but I think overall we can say that it has been a very good season. I already said that for me it was a good season, but it can become very good if we are able to get to the Champions League and hopefully we can win on Wednesday.”
So with that all said, here is probably the best first team that Maresca can go with.
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction vs Real Betis (Conference League Final)
Filip Jorgensen; Malo Gusto, Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile, Marc Cucurella; Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Enzo Fernandez; Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku, Tyrique George; Nicolas Jackson
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter