Chelsea: Manuel Pellegrini reveals prophetic Enzo Maresca message in Conference League final claim | OneFootball

Real Betis boss insists Wednesday’s Wroclaw showpiece is not a clash between ‘David and Goliath’

Real Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini says he knew his side would wind up facing Chelsea in this season’s Conference League final.

The two clubs will go head to head in the showpiece fixture of Europe’s tertiary club competition in the Polish city of Wroclaw on Wednesday night.

Chelsea have been overwhelming favourites to win this season’s Conference League from the outset, beating Swiss side Servette in the play-off round despite a shock second-leg defeat and then topping the inaugural league phase with six wins from six, scoring 26 goals and conceding only five ahead of two-legged knockout victories over FC Copenhagen, Legia Warsaw and Djurgarden.

LaLiga outfit Betis were also considered as strong contenders to advance into the latter stages, but only finished the league phase in 15th after seeing off Kryvbas of Ukraine and had to get past Gent in a knockout phase play-off tie, then defeating Vitoria SC, Jagiellonia Bialystok and Fiorentina, the latter in extra-time of the semi-finals.

The final pits together two managers who know each other very well, with Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca having been signed as a player by former Real Madrid and Manchester City coach Pellegrini at Malaga, and then later worked as his assistant at West Ham.

Pellegrini has now revealed that he texted his former colleague at the start of this season’s Conference League to make his confident final prediction.

“I sent Enzo a message when we started in the group,” the Chilean told reporters on Tuesday.

“A very short message: 'I will see you in the final.' I also gave him a call when we won the semi-final.

“When we were working at West Ham, we were always talking about football so we both know what each other are thinking.”

Chelsea remain strong favourites to lift the trophy in Wroclaw on Wednesday after ending the Premier League campaign in mostly strong form to seal a fourth-place finish and qualify for next season’s Champions League, though Pellegrini does not see his side - who came sixth in LaLiga to clinch a spot in the Europa League - as having to attempt a famous giant-killing despite the disparity in money spent on the respective playing squads.

"We don't think that we are David and Goliath," he said.

"We think that tomorrow we have exactly the same possibility to win the game. We are going to start from the first minute to try to do it.

"It doesn't matter how much one team or the other team (spends). In 90 minutes on the pitch we will have exactly the same chance to win the game."