Chelsea’s status as London’s prime European trophy hunters remains inarguable. Winning this season’s Conference League would add to a set of two European Cups, two Europa Leagues and having twice been winners of the old Cup Winners’ Cup.
If Uefa’s minor competition is not meant for global super-clubs, more clubs such as Djurgården, swept aside easily over two legs, Blues fans can look forward to an eighth European final, having won six of seven. It is a haul Arsenal fans licking painful wounds from Paris can only dream of.
Progress to the Wroclaw final came on a night without tension but full of atmosphere, mostly coming from the visiting Swedish fans. Expectation can be a passion killer and Chelsea’s Conference League campaign has been full of quiet Thursdays. The Swedish contingent lit up the night with noise and fervour. They had determined to make the most of their Conference League experience.
For Enzo Maresca, failure to lift the trophy on 28 May would still register as an abject failure and count against any designs on lasting longer than a single season. His bosses have designs on playing on rather grander stages but the Italian moved a step closer towards one of the season’s objectives. There, the former Sevilla player will face Real Betis, coached by his mentor, Manuel Pellegrini, “my professional dad”.
Maresca described reaching the final as “a starting point for a winning mentality and then to try to win more and more titles hopefully in the future” before looking ahead to Sunday’s noon assignment. “Now, the most important game has become Newcastle,” he said. “We have 20 days to prepare the final, and we have to see game after game.”
That the Champions League is top priority was laid bare by Maresca’s selection, ten changes made from Liverpool on Sunday. A three-goal margin was calculated – correctly – to be enough. A first start for Reggie Walsh, 16 and within his GCSE study period. Walsh, who looks yet younger, became the youngest Chelsea player to start a European match. Before kick-off, the captain, Reece James, hugged his young teammate, as if offering fatherly advice.
Djurgården’s away contingent, in the corner of the Shed End, were determined to show off ultra credentials at a stadium once one of the cathedrals of terrace culture. The modern Stamford Bridge, with pre-match tunnel club, barely resembles the Football Factory the visitors might recall from their DVD collection. Noise, brandished scarves and firework smoke filled the west London air.
Could their heroes land an early blow to strike tension into the tie? When August Priske won a loose ball on the right and laid up Tokmac Nguen, it momentarily felt possible, only for the Norwegian to balloon his effort. The excitement around that attack made clear DF fans were dotted around the Bridge, including in corporate sections. Many semi-final tickets had landed in the wrong – if willing – hands.
DF’s fans and their team ended the night in loud synchronicity, applauding each other’s efforts, as club anthems were bellowed lustily. “I was disappointed for a while,” said their coach Jani Honkavaara. “But when we saw their reaction, I think we all felt we could be proud of a long campaign.”
Walsh had completed the full 90, having not looked at all overawed. “He was fantastic, composed,” said Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, his manager yet more effusive, uncharacteristically so. Maresca said: “I love him because he’s that kind of a player I want to play in my system, he’s perfect.”
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Marc Cucurella had partnered James in midfield as Chelsea dominated first-half play before, after, the 19-year-old striker Tyrique George’s turn and pass, Dewsbury-Hall ran free to guide the ball home.
Despite the tie being over as a contest, the second half resumed with yet louder Swedish noise. Cucurella had been withdrawn, overseeing role completed, and the teenager Shumaira Mheuka came on to the lead the line.
A consolation goal might have blown the roof off but the team estimated to be worth 44 times their opponents defended tightly as the majority of the entertainment value remained in the stands.
With 20 minutes to play, James was removed for Trevoh Chalobah, and in place of Sancho, on came Genesis Antwi, the 17-year-old facing opposition from his Stockholm birthplace as five teenagers completed the job. “Fantastic for the academy, fantastic for the future,” said their manager.
Maresca’s use of flowering youth suggested bright days ahead for the Chelsea project – or pure profit, depending on the business model. A final date in Poland is among them.
Source: theguardian.com
