Money overcomes dreams, and Betis extends its European curse against Chelsea.

Sometimes history weighs like a millstone. Betis had 118 at its back, squeezing it, suffocating it, preventing it from developing the art, the spirit that this team has shown especially in this latter part of the year thanks to the Isco - Antony partnership. The Seville team died on the shore before the pain of 12,000 souls who never stopped cheering, who always believed, but whose breath was of no use to subdue the almighty Chelsea, who recovered from Abde 's opening goal with an exhibition from Cole Palmer and goals from Enzo , Jackson and Sancho . [Narration and statistics, 1-4]

Maresca has at his disposal not a team, but an army. He's used nearly 30 players in this competition, which they've dominated with an iron fist. Only a hollow defeat to Legia in the quarterfinals. Money, the disadvantage Isco mockingly displayed in the build-up, has triumphed over hope. And yet the Malaga native was no small fry in this duel; he was the general who planned the war, but he proved to be Leonidas against the Persians.

In the first duel, both teams sought to make their opponents uncomfortable from the outset. They pressed high and forced the goalkeepers to such an extent that Adrián was the player who received the first foul. In a frantic first five minutes, the ball traveled from box to box in mere seconds, searching for a mistake, a mistake. And it soon came.

Johnny guessed a pass from Gusto and passed to Isco , who drew the defense so much that they forgot about Abde alone on the wing. The Malaga native passed at just the right moment for the winger to cross the shot past Jorgensen . The dream was closer, and Johnny almost embraced it five minutes later with another steal and a shot from 40 meters that almost surprised the Swedish goalkeeper. If Pellegrini had asked the lads to remain true to themselves, they accepted the message.

And then Isco grabbed the ball, tamed it, pampered it, won it back, passed it, and Chelsea looked, but couldn't take it away from him. Antony, Johnny, Abde, Bartra all looked for the Malaga native, the man of the finals, and he responded. In another movement that ended on the Spanish-Moroccan's wing, he won the fight against Gusto , cut inside Caicedo , and passed to Johnny unguarded at the penalty spot. His shot went high because it was slightly deflected by Badiashile . Betis were far superior to Chelsea in terms of points, but football is about knocking down your opponent, and the English were still standing.

Cole Palmer led the resistance. The young Briton has dropped from the level he showed last season. He hadn't been impressive for a while, scoring 15 goals and 9 assists this season compared to 22/11 last season. Every time he took the ball and faced it, the Betis fans seemed to fall silent. It's clear that quality and spirit reside in Seville and West London.

Horrible second part

And when it seemed like nothing was happening, with the game asleep, the Englishman invented a triple cut over Jesús , put it in the heart of the area and Enzo appeared to head it into the net. The weapons were once again raised, but with less time, less energy and worse dynamics for Pellegrini 's boys. In fact, the Briton wanted to tell Isco and Poland that he was here too, and what a way, he made a little step on Jesús again and launched a millimeter-perfect cross to Jackson , who pushed with his chest. The slope steepened and fears appeared.

Betis had Isco , but needed Antony , closely guarded by Cucurella throughout the match. Pellegrini 's men needed to regain the spirit of the first half, but Chelsea threatened on the counterattack. And they ended up sealing the match with it. Two bursts of lightning from Sancho and Caicedo made the match impossible and silenced the north end of the Wroclaw stadium. The dream slipped through their fingers, and the story became interminable. The story focused on the tears of the Betis fans. Of pain, of helplessness, of lost hope. Money won.