Chelsea, England’s second most successful club in European football with eight trophies, returns to continental competition after a one-year hiatus. The Blues face Swiss side Servette over two legs to secure a spot in the UEFA Conference League group stage, starting with the first leg at Stamford Bridge tonight (8 pm Nigerian time).
This marks only the third time Chelsea has encountered such a play-off under UEFA rules, with previous successful attempts in the Champions League. Servette, who recently lost a Europa League play-off to Braga 2-1 on aggregate, risks elimination from two UEFA competitions within weeks.
Servette’s best-ever European run saw them reach the quarter-finals of the 1978/79 Cup Winners’ Cup. Their last clash with an English side was 50 years ago, where they lost 6-2 on aggregate to Derby County.
Chelsea, who recently welcomed back attacker Joao Felix, boasts a strong home record in Europe, winning 10 and drawing three of their last 15 matches at Stamford Bridge, with only two losses to Real Madrid.
The match also marks Chelsea’s head coach Enzo Maresca’s debut in European competition. Maresca, a key figure in Manchester City’s Champions League success in 2022/23, will manage his first European game for Chelsea after taking charge.
However, Chelsea will be without Reece James and Wesley Fofana, with Maresca opting to rest the latter. New signings and late-returning internationals are nearing full-match fitness, and Pedro Neto is expected to play a role.
The second leg of the Chelsea vs Servette tie will take place in Geneva next Thursday, with the draw for the six-match, 36-team league phase to follow on Friday, August 30. The Conference League final is scheduled for May 28, 2025, in Wrocław, Poland, with the winner earning a place in the following season’s Europa League.
Historically, Chelsea and Servette have only met twice before, both in Geneva shortly after World War II. Chelsea won the first match 2-0 in 1946, while Servette claimed a 1-0 victory in 1954. Competitively, Chelsea has faced Swiss opposition six times in Europe, including matches against Basel and St. Gallen.
Chelsea holds the highest UEFA coefficient (79.00) of any club left in the Conference League, far ahead of Servette’s ranking of 139th (9.00).
