Following Real Betis’ 4-1 loss to Chelsea in Wednesday night’s Europa Conference League final, the Spanish media has harshly criticized Antony. Abde Ezzalzouli gave the Seville-based team the lead in the ninth minute, but fast goals from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez, both set up by the always creative Cole Palmer, made it a game of two quite different halves in the end.
Chelsea became the first English team to win the European trophy after goals from Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo, the team’s Player of the Season, completed the victory. Real Betis, however, was left regretting a squandered opportunity to emerge from the shadows and make continental history by winning their first significant European championship.
The match at Stadion Miejski in Wroclaw also served as Antony’s last tryout before he rejoins Manchester United this summer with the hopes of landing a long-term contract somewhere. The question now is if his lack of performance in Poland has hurt his chances of becoming one of La Liga’s headline performers after he swiftly made a name for himself with seven goal involvements in 15 games on loan.
How Antony’s UECL Final Performance Was Reacted To By Spanish Media
The winger didn’t make an impression on the media.
According to the data above, Antony had a memorable performance on Wednesday night, and the Spanish media, which also took a pessimistic stance toward his performance, did not help to lessen the blow. On that night, Mundo Deportivo published a full report about how Cole Palmer was everything his opponent wasn’t, writing:
Many people thought Antony would win the final and swing the odds in the Betis team’s favor. This couldn’t be further from the reality; the Brazilian’s performance didn’t look anything like the Real Betis shirt he’s been sporting since moving to the Benito Villamarin last winter. Antony had a memorable last performance, barring a miracle that kept him in Heliopolis.
In contrast, AS was blunt in their criticism of the Brazilian, saying: “Antony didn’t show up.” The 25-year-old received a 4.5/10 in Marca’s player ratings article, which also mentioned Marc Cucurella’s “titan” performance as the reason he was powerless to change the result in his team’s favor.
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