Chelsea Discover Potential Opponents In Conference League Play-offs
2 min read
By Sedara Philip
Chelsea have discovered their route to the UEFA Conference League as they plot their return to European competition.
The Blues are being led by new head coach Enzo Maresca, who will hope to hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge by confirming their spot in the competition’s main draw later in August. Chelsea must qualify through the play-off round and will play either FC Braga or Servette.
Chelsea will face the loser of the third qualifying round clash between FC Braga and Servette for a place in the UEFA Conference League for the 2024/25 season.
The Blues, led by new boss Enzo Maresca, must qualify for the competition through the play-off route after their sixth-place Premier League finish last term.
Chelsea are yet to play a top-flight game during Maresca’s tenure but have endured a relatively underwhelming pre-season campaign under the Italian.
They began preparations with a draw against Wrexham before they were thrashed 4-1 by Celtic.
Victory against Mexican side America followed, before they were beaten 4-2 by domestic rivals Manchester City.
Chelsea will face Real Madrid and Inter Milan over the next fortnight before their Premier League season kicks off against Man City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, August 18.
Four days later, they will welcome either Braga or Servette to west London to mark their return to European competition, where one of the teams will drop down from the Europa League qualifiers.
Braga are the strongest side Chelsea could have come up against on paper, and they dropped down to the Conference League after elimination from their Europa League qualifier.
Servette crashed out of the UEFA Champions League preliminary rounds last season when they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Michael Beale’s Rangers.
A turbulent couple of seasons for Chelsea led them to miss out on all European competition last term for the first time in seven years.
After back-to-back defeats in the Conference League final – against West Ham United and Olympiacos respectively – Fiorentina will look to right their wrongs this season.
The Serie A side will begin their redemption tour against either Ararat-Armenia or Puskas Akademia.
The play-off draw also took place for the Europa League on Monday, with plenty of interest from those involved in the Conference League.
Play-off round ties for both the Europa League and the Conference League will take place on Thursday, August 22 and Thursday, August 29.
Sedara Philip is a Sports writer, an administrator,Journalist,and editor
