Real Betis paid the price for taking their foot off the pedal after an impressive first half in Wednesday’s Conference League final defeat by Chelsea, said their inspirational captain Isco and veteran coach Manuel Pellegrini.
Betis were a goal up at the break after dominating their English opponents, but were swept away in the second half as Chelsea came back strongly to record a 4-1 victory.
“We had a good first half where they barely had any chances,” Isco said after the match. “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.”
Abde Ezzalzouli staked Betis to their first-half lead from a pinpoint Isco assist, but Chelsea took control in the second half with Cole Palmer pulling the strings for the Premier League side, who had Enzo Fernández, Nicolas Jackson, Jadon Sancho and Moisés Caicedo all on the scoresheet.
“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-times Champions League winner with Real Madrid who was outstanding in the opening 45 minutes but like the rest of his teammates looked jaded after the break.
“It’s a very heavy defeat after what we did in the first half. Football is unforgiving.
“We couldn’t maintain the rhythm we expected. It was a tough opponent. A final rout that I don’t think reflects the difference between the two teams,” added Pellegrini.
“We mustn’t forget that we were facing Chelsea. I’m disappointed that we outplayed them in the first half, but then let it slip in the second half.”
Despite the second-half collapse, defender Marc Bartra, another player with past Champions League success at Barcelona, had huge praise for the Spanish club’s fans, who vastly outnumbered Chelsea supporters and provided a noisy background in the Polish city.
“It’s a source of pride to see the fans like this,” Bartra said. “I love this club for the way they always support us, the way they cheer us on. It’s a source of pride even in defeat. It says a lot about this club.
“It seems like the season is worthless now, but we’ll appreciate it more as time goes on.”
Teary-eyed defender Aitor Rubial promised they would be back. Betis will compete in the higher level Europa League next season after a sixth-place finish in LaLiga.
“We’ve had a tough time this season, a really tough stretch, but we’re confident that we’re going to pull through this and we’ll do it again,” he predicted.
Information from Reuters was used in this story.
