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Manchester United loanee Antony couldn’t hold his tears following his team Real Betis’ spectacular victory against Fiorentina in the final of the UEFA Conference League 2024-25 semi-final, played at Stadio Artemio Franchi on May 8. With this loss, Fiorentina crashed out of the tournament. The Italian club were the runners-up for the last two seasons but this time, they couldn’t hold their nerves in the semi-final contest against Real Betis. It will be the maiden appearance of the Spanish club in the illustrious European tournament’s final.
In January, the Brazilian shifted to the Spanish club from Manchester United as he felt he might not be included in Ruben Amorim’s future plans for the English club. In the new team, Antony has played extraordinarily so far. In the semi-final against the Italian club, he made a sensational effort in the first-half of the game to help his team have a command over the game. He scored in the 30th minute of the match, which created pressure on the hosts.
Abdessamad Ezzalzouli displayed his courageous side in extra time to snatch victory from Fiorentina
With the scores levelled until the 90th minute of the match, Abdessamad Ezzalzouli stepped up for Real Betis and notched up an excellent goal in the 97th minute. The Spanish team will play their maiden final against Chelsea in Wroclaw on May 28. Betis’ manager Manuel Pellegrini expressed joy on his team’s qualification for the final but emphasised on winning a spot in the a Champions League, although LaLiga remains his top priority.
While speaking to the media, he said, "My satisfaction is logical. It makes me much happier to see the joy of the Betis fans. We felt a little bit indebted, with the need to give the Betis fans this kind of joy." He also added, "From tomorrow we leave the Conference League out because we have four very important league games left to aim for the Champions League until the end of the season." "We are very happy to reach the final, and even more so with Chelsea and I sent [manager Enzo] Maresca a message a long time ago being very happy for him," Manuel Pellegrini added.
