Her victory Chelsea Betis 4-1 in the Conference League final marked the end of an impressive and historic series. After 24 consecutive wins in final competitions – both at the cross -country and nationally – the Spanish teams suffered their first defeat since the distant 2001!
For more than two decades, Spain and Spanish teams dominated the European Finals, setting up a unique record that Chelsea has been stopped! Specifically, the last time a Spanish team was defeated by a club of another country in the UEFA final was in 2001, when Bayern Munich won the Champions League by defeating Valencia in San Siro. Just eight days earlier, Liverpool had also prevailed in Alaves’ penalty shoot-out in the unforgettable UEFA Cup final in Dortmund.
The historical series of Spanish
From 2002 to 2024, Spanish associations and Spanish national team won 24 finals against foreign opponents. The series includes the final Champions League, Europa League, Euro and World Cup:
2002: Real Madrid-Leverkusen 2-1
2004: Valencia-Marseille 2-0
2006: Barcelona-Arsenal 2-1
2006: Sevilla-Middlesbrough 4-0
2008: Spain-Germany 1-0 (Euro)
2009: Barcelona-Manchester United 2-0
2010: Atletico-Fulham 2-1
2010: Spain-Netherlands 1-0 (World Cup)
2011: Barcelona-Manchester United 3-1
2012: Spain-Italy 4-0 (Euro)
2014: Sevilla-Benfica 4-2 (penalty shootout)
2015: Barcelona-Juventus 3-1
2015: Sevilla-Dnipro 3-2
2016: Sevilla-Liverpool 3-1
2017: Real-Juventus 4-1
2018: Real-Liverpool 3-1
2018: Atletico-Marseille 3-0
2020: Seville-Inter 3-2
2021: Villarreal-Manchester United 11-10 (penalty shootout)
2022: Real-Liverpool 1-0
2023: Seville-Roma 4-1 (penalty)
2024: Real-Dortmund 2-0
2024: Spain-England 2-1 (Euro)
It is worth noting that in total the Spaniards were counting 27 winning finals as in four cases there was a “civil” with two groups from the Iberian Peninsula.