BREAKING: Chelsea To Face Braga Or Servette In UEFA Conference League Play-Off—Chelsea will face either Braga or Servette in the play-off round for the UEFA Conference League.
The draw for the play-off round took place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday afternoon, with the Blues facing a two-legged clash to reach the new expanded league stage of the tournament.
The Blues finished sixth in the Premier League under Mauricio Pochettino last season, having spent much of the campaign languishing in mid-table. A late season surge got them into European competition, with a first ever season in the competition which has only been going for three years.
It had looked as if Chelsea would be in the Europa League, but Manchester United’s FA Cup final win over rivals City and their lack of European football due to their seventh-placed Premier League finish, bumped the Blues down into the Conference League instead.
A season in the Conference League could benefit new head coach Enzo Maresca, who has something of a bloated squad in west London, with the tournament providing a potential opportunity for some young players to be given minutes.
The first leg of the play-off clash will take place at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, August 22, with the return leg in either Portugal or Switzerland on Thursday, August 29.
The way the draw has worked, Chelsea will actually face the losers of the game between Braga and Servette. This is because that qualifying clash is a Europa League qualifying clash with the winners going through to the Europa League play-off round and the losers dropping into the Conference League play-off round.
If they get through that, Chelsea will then be in a new-look Conference League format for 2024/25. The biggest change is to the group stage, which will become a single 36-team league stage.
Each side faces six different teams (three at home, three away). The top eight overall advance directly to the round of 16; sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout round play-offs, with the victors going through to the last 16. From then on it is a straight knockout.
