Another European Final for the Blues

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Another season, another European final. OK, the Conference League may not necessarily be the competition that everyone sets their hearts on, but it was the competition that the Blues found themselves in at the start of the 2024/25 campaign. And now another final awaits in what is becoming somewhat of a common theme for fans of the Stamford Bridge club.

Ahead of the tie against Spanish Club Real Betis scheduled to take place on 28th May in the 42,771-capacity Wrocław Stadium in Poland, we cast our eyes back on all of the European finals in the club’s history. There have been some epics.

1971 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final – won

Chelsea’s first ever European final, and European success, was in the now-defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup Final against the mighty Real Madrid at the end of the 1970/71 season. Chelsea’s win came courtesy of a replay after the first game in Piraeus ended in a 1-1 draw, Real’s Zoco scoring a last-minute equaliser. The replay at the same venue two days later resulted in a 2-1 victory for the Blues with Peter Osgood scoring what turned out to be the winner in the 39th minute. The European glory began there and then.

1998 UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup Final – won

The same competition that Chelsea originally won back in ’71 had been slightly renamed by the time the Blues took on the VfB Stuttgart in the final at the Råsunda Stadium in Stockholm. Chelsea were led by legendary player-manager Gianluca Vialli but it was fellow Italian Gianfranco Zola who scored the winning goal in a narrow 1-0 victory, claiming the man of the match award in the process.

1998 UEFA Super Cup Final – won

As a result of winning the previous season’s Cup Winner’s Cup, Chelsea qualified for the Super Cup final which pitted the winners of the Cup Winners’ Cup against the holders of the Champions League: in this case, Real Madrid. And once again it was Chelsea who came out on top at the Stade Louis II stadium in Monaco, with Gus Poyet scoring the late winner in a 1-0 victory.

2008 UEFA Champions League Final – lost

Chelsea’s first taste of a final in Europe’s premier club competition, but sadly also their first defeat, and in bitter fashion too as the Blues went down on penalties to fellow English side Manchester United after playing out a 1-1 draw.

2012 UEFA Champions League Final – won

Glory! And in some style too! Who will ever forget Blues legend Didier Drogba’s late equaliser, followed by dramatic success in a penalty shootout to avenge the defeat just four years earlier? Roberto Di Matteo was the man at the helm on a night that will forever be remembered in Chelsea folklore.

2012 UEFA Super Cup Final – lost

Only a second defeat in a European final for the Blues, with a hattrick from Atletico Madrid’s Radamel Falcao helping down the Londoners in an emphatic 4-1 win for the Spanish side.

2013 UEFA Europa League Final – won

A different competition and a different man in charge, in this case Rafa Benitez, but a familiar result: glory for Chelsea. A disappointing group stage exit in the Champions League was made up for in some style by the Blues going the distance in the Europa League, defeating Benfica 2-1 in the final with Branislav Ivanović scoring a dramatic winner in injury time. 

2013 UEFA Super Cup Final – lost

For the second season in a row Chelsea lost the showpiece event between the winners of the previous season’s Champions League and Europe League. Bayern Munich avenged, to a very small extent, their defeat on penalties in the 2012 Champions League final by overcoming José Mourinho’s side in the same manner. The game had ended 2-2.

2019 UEFA Europa League Final – won

Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea destroyed London rivals Arsenal in the final of the 2019 Europa League. Two goals from Eden Hazard helped the Blues to an emphatic 4-1 win that helped secure a sixth European trophy for the club. 

2019 UEFA Super Cup Final – lost

Defeat again in the Super Cup final as it took penalties once more to separate the two sides. On this occasion it was Champions League holders Liverpool that did the damage after the game had finished in a 2-2 draw, with two of those goals coming in the extra time period.

2021 UEFA Champions League Final – won

Glory again in the big one! This time it was Premier League rivals and heavy favourites for the game Manchester City that were downed in the final by a solitary Blues goal, scored by Kai Havertz towards the end of the first half. The Citizens had been heavily fancied by the new sports betting websites ahead of the game, but it was yet another upset in a major European final, and another night that will live forever in the memory of Blues fans with plenty of singing and dancing on the streets of Porto in the aftermath.

2021 UEFA Super Cup Final – won

After three successive defeats in this showpiece, a second victory for the Blues, courtesy of a penalty shootout win over Spanish side Villarreal. 

That last win made it eight from twelve in European finals, with three of those defeats coming in the lesser Super Cups. That is not a record to be sniffed at, and one that should inspire this current iteration of the Blues ahead of the 2025 UEFA Conference League final.