Chelsea v Real Betis LIVE: Team news and line-ups from Conference League final

Real Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini tells TNT Sports, “For me the first step is to win tonight. For Betis now is the first time we are playing a [European] final which is not easy to manage, but I am sure that from the first minute we will try to have the personality to win the game.

“These fans are unbelievable, for me very similar to West Ham, we always have 50,000 people behind us and if you have a big stadium you will play with 70,000. Betis fans are exactly the same. They are always with the team every time we play. Our stadium is always full. We need to win this game for them.”

“It’s a final, an important game – but we try to prepare the same way we have all season,” Enzo Maresca tells TNT Sports.

“We started to win games in an ‘uglier’ way, which we struggled with at the start of the season. In Forest away, it’s a difficult place to go, and we were very happy to win.”

The 25-year-old has earned admiration for his form in Spain and a brilliant strike against Valencia on Friday night made it eight goals and five assists in 24 matches across La Liga and Europa Conference League.

Should they beat Chelsea in the final of the Conference League, Antony will have become a Betis legend for firing them to only their third trophy this century, and sixth in all.

Chelsea’s opponents tonight are fielding a team stacked with talent formerly of the Premier League. The most obvious is Antony, on loan from Manchester United, but the starting line-up includes Adrian – former goalkeeper at West Ham and Liverpool – and another ex-West Ham man in Pablo Fornals. Former Spurs player Giovanni Lo Celso and one-time Saints defender Romain Perraud are on the bench, too.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has made five changes from their win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

Nicolas Jackson, suspended for that game, is recalled, while Filip Jorgensen starts in goal ahead of Robert Sanchez

Malo Gusto, Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile are all in the starting line-up, coming in for Tosin Adarabioyo, Levi Colwill and captain Reece James.

Jadon Sancho drops to the bench.

Real Betis XI: Adrian, Sabaly, Bartra, Natan, Rodriguez, Cardoso, Fornals, Isco, Ezzalzouli, Bakambu, Antony

Substitutes: Vieites, Gonzalez, Perraud, Altimira, Lo Celso, Ruibal, Mendy, Rodriguez, Ortiz, Flores, Garcia

Chelsea XI: Jorgensen, Gusto, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella, Enzo, Caicedo, Palmer, Neto, Madueke, Jackson

Substitutes: Sanchez, Bergstron, Tosin, Colwill, Acheampong, James, Amougou, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Sancho, Nkunku, Guiu

Chelsea have discussed a move for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike, as they hone transfer plans now that they have qualified for the 2025/26 Champions League.

With Nicolas Jackson suspended for the final two games and Marc Guiu just 18 years of age, Chelsea had been left short in attack.

The club are now actively targeting a striker in the market with the French star high on their list, though they also have significant interest in Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres and Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap.

However the Seville club’s encounter with Valencia was brought forward to Friday evening, giving Manuel Pellegrini’s side extra preparation time ahead of the trip to Poland.