Chelsea wins Conference League to complete set of UEFA titles in liftoff for American owners

Chelsea finally has a trophy to show for the unprecedented levels of spending under its American owners, even if it’s hardly one they’d have craved.

The English club produced an impressive second-half rally to beat Real Betis 4-1 in the final of the Conference League on Wednesday, becoming in the process the first team to have all four of UEFA’s club competitions in its trophy collection.

Aside from the 1971 and 1998 titles in the now-defunct Cup Winners’ Cup, Chelsea’s other European silverware — the Champions League in 2012 and 2021 and the Europa League in 2013 and 2019 — came in the trophy-laden tenure of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

The Abramovich era ended in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Chelsea was bought by a consortium fronted by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly that has since spent around $1.3 billion on new players in a high-risk move to remodel the squad with mostly young stars.

Some of them delivered in the turnaround against Betis, with Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson converting pinpoint crosses from Cole Palmer in the 65th and 70th minutes, respectively, before substitute Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo added more goals in Wroclaw, Poland.

Boehly went on the pitch after the final whistle to congratulate Chelsea's players after club captain Reece James lifted the trophy to a backdrop of ticker tape and loud roars from teammates in the middle of the field.

“Coming into this competition, it was something we had to win," James said of the Conference League, Europe's oft-maligned third-tier competition. "Next season we go again in the Champions League.”

That elite competition is where Chelsea feels it belongs and a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, secured on Sunday, sealed a return to the Champions League.

Not a bad few days, then, for the London team and its Italian manager, Enzo Maresca, at the end of his first year in charge.

Playing in its first European final, Betis went ahead through Abdessamad Ezzalzouli’s goal in the ninth minute and was the better team in a first half of few chances.

The Seville club faded in the second half, however, as Chelsea's strength off the bench showed. One of those influential substitutes was James, a 25-year-old right back who joined the club at the age of 6 and has suffered many long-term injuries in recent years. He said he was “devastated” not to be picked to start the final but had a big impact when he came on as a halftime replacement.

“In the first half we were flat," James said. "The game didn’t go our way early on and it looked like it took a lot out of us. We needed a reaction in the second half, and we got it.”

The result ended a remarkable run of successes for Spanish teams in European men’s title matches. Before this game, all 23 continental finals featuring Spanish clubs since the start of the 2001-02 season had been won by a Spanish team. That included four all-Spanish matchups.

Betis couldn't maintain it in a bid to win a European title for the first time.

Palmer is one of the shining lights in Chelsea's team and the England playmaker inspired the turnaround by setting up Fernandez's equalizer with an inviting, inswinging cross that the Argentina midfielder glanced past flat-footed Betis goalkeeper Adrian.

Palmer then delivered a brilliant piece of skill to spin his marker with a feint and cross with his weaker right foot to Jackson, who bundled the ball home off his shoulder.

Betis folded and Chelsea flooded forward for more goals, with Jackson over-running the ball when through one-on-one with Adrian.

Sancho made no mistake by cutting inside and curling a shot into the far corner in the 83rd for the last goal of his loan spell from Manchester United that might be made permanent this summer.

Caicedo — arguably Chelsea's star player this season — got in on the act with a deflected stoppage-time strike from the edge of the area.

“We struggled a bit first half, second half we were much better and now we are very happy,” Maresca said.

The match was preceded by fan disorder in the Polish city that led to 28 people being arrested.

Police used stun grenades and a water cannon against the teams’ fans who were disturbing public order in the city, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

So far, this season's European trophies have gone to English clubs, with Tottenham winning the Europa League title last week by beating Man United — another Premier League team — 1-0 in the final.

It can't be a treble for England because Saturday's Champions League final in Munich will be between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan.

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Betis' Antony walks off the podium after they lost the Europa League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez lifts the trophy after the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Chelsea's Reece James lifts the trophy after the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez scores his side's opening goal during the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson, left, scores his side's second goal during the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson celebrates after scoring during the Europa League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Betis' Abde Ezzalzouli, right, celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Betis' Abde Ezzalzouli scores his side's opening goal during the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Betis' Abde Ezzalzouli celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Real Betis players celebrate after Betis' Abde Ezzalzouli, centre, scored his side's opening goal during the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Chelsea's head coach Enzo Maresca attends the training session ahead of the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/ Denes Erdos)

Betis' head coach Manuel Pellegrini during a training session ahead of the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/ Denes Erdos )

Betis' Isco controls the ball during a training session ahead of the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)

Chelsea fans light up flares ahead of the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/ Czarek Sokolowski)

Chelsea's Cole Palmer looks at the ball during a training session ahead of the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/ Denes Erdos)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Over two dozen families from one of the few remaining Palestinian Bedouin villages in the central West Bank have packed up and fled their homes in recent days, saying harassment by Jewish settlers living in unauthorized outposts nearby has grown unbearable.

The village, Ras Ein el-Auja, was originally home to some 700 people from more than 100 families that have lived there for decades.

Twenty-six families already left on Thursday, scattering across the territory in search of safer ground, say rights groups. Several other families were packing up and leaving on Sunday.

“We have been suffering greatly from the settlers. Every day, they come on foot, or on tractors, or on horseback with their sheep into our homes. They enter people’s homes daily,” said Nayef Zayed, a resident, as neighbors took down sheep pens and tin structures.

Israel's military and the local settler governing body in the area did not respond to requests for comment.

Other residents pledged to stay put for the time being. That makes them some of the last Palestinians left in the area, said Sarit Michaeli, international director at B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group helping the residents.

She said that mounting settler violence has already emptied neighboring Palestinian hamlets in the dusty corridor of land stretching from Ramallah in the West to Jericho, along the Jordanian border, in the east.

The area is part of the 60% of the West Bank that has remained under full Israeli control under interim peace accords signed in the 1990s. Since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October 2023, over 2,000 Palestinians — at least 44 entire communities — have been expelled by settler violence in the area, B'Tselem says.

The turning point for the village came in December, when settlers put up an outpost about 50 meters (yards) from Palestinian homes on the northwestern flank of the village, said Michaeli and Sam Stein, an activist who has been living in the village for a month.

Settlers strolled easily through the village at night. Sheep and laundry went missing. International activists had to begin escorting children to school to keep them safe.

“The settlers attack us day and night, they have displaced us, they harass us in every way” said Eyad Isaac, another resident. “They intimidate the children and women.”

Michaeli said she’s witnessed settlers walk around the village at night, going into homes to film women and children and tampering with the village’s electricity.

The residents said they call the police frequently to ask for help — but it seldom arrives. Settlement expansion has been promoted by successive Israeli governments over nearly six decades. But Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, which has placed settler leaders in senior positions, has made it a top priority.

That growth has been accompanied by a spike in settler violence, much of it carried out by residents of unauthorized outposts. These outposts often begin with small farms or shepherding that are used to seize land, say Palestinians and anti-settlement activists. United Nations officials warn the trend is changing the map of the West Bank, entrenching Israeli presence in the area.

Some 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank since Israel captured the territory, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. Their presence is viewed by most of the international community as illegal and a major obstacle to peace. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state.

For now, displaced families of the village have dispersed between other villages near the city of Jericho and near Hebron further south, said residents. Some sold their sheep and are trying to move into the cities.

Others are just dismantling their structures without knowing where to go.

"Where will we go? There’s nowhere. We’re scattered,” said Zayed, the resident, “People’s situation is bad. Very bad.”

An Israeli settler herds his flock near his outpost beside the Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja in the West Bank, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A Palestinian resident of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank burns trash, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian children play in the West Bank village of Ras Ein al-Auja, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)