Two of the UEFA Conference League’s remaining 100 per cent records go on the line tonight as table-toppers Chelsea take on sixth-placed hosts Heidenheim. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton set the scene for our trip to Germany...
Tonight sees first-placed Chelsea take on Heidenheim in sixth in what will be the fourth league phase game out of six as teams chase a spot in the top eight of the table, which guarantees direct entry to the Round of 16 in March.
On Saturday, the Blues fortified third place in the Premier League table by winning 2-1 at Leicester, while Heidenheim are licking their Bundesliga wounds after a 2-0 lead at Leverkusen became a 5-2 loss.
Following the competition-record 8-0 victory at home to Noah on matchday three, two-time Champions League-winners Chelsea could now become the first English side to score four or more goals in four consecutive major European competition matches.
The hosts were Germany’s eighth-best team last season, but qualified for this competition thanks to league champions Bayer Leverkusen doubling up with the DFB Cup.
The venue for tonight’s fourth league stage fixture has space for 15,000 – approaching a third of the Baden-Wurttemberg town’s population – though they are performing marginally better away from home at the moment. It won’t be warm in south-west Germany this evening. The Voith-Arena is not only the smallest stadium in the Bundesliga, but also the highest above sea level.
This is likely to be the biggest test of Chelsea’s schedule in this phase of the Conference League so far. The remaining two come next month against Shamrock Rovers and Astana, clubs already in post-season mode following the conclusion of their domestic campaigns earlier this month.
Using only 17 players in this competition up to now, the Londoners have recorded the tournament’s biggest-ever win (8-0), most goalscorers (nine), best shot conversion rate (25 per cent), highest expected goals (xG) figure (10.1), biggest over-performance of xG (+5.9), most efforts on target (33), most big chances (20), most touches in the opposition’s box (125), fewest yellows (two), highest pass completion percentage (90.8) and most possession periods of 10 or more passes (81).
Team news
Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer are among the players not in the Blues’ UEFA squad and could all start against Aston Villa on Sunday, but the Italian has solutions for each area tonight.
Against Noah, Enzo Fernandez became only the third player in this competition’s short history to provide three assists in the same game, but the King Power Stadium also witnessed one of his sharpest performances in England. Conference League regular Joao Felix was instrumental in the success of Maresca’s tactical plan at Leicester, and could be called upon again tonight.
While Tyrique George has been getting minutes in this competition and Jadon Sancho will be keen for a run-out after his lay-off, the numbers are already good in forward areas. Joao Felix has netted a brace in his past two European outings, former Bundesliga Player of the Year Christopher Nkunku has scored in each of his past five, and Mykhailo Mudryk also notched at Panathinaikos and home to Noah.
The history
This is the first-ever match between Chelsea and Heidenheim, but we have faced other German teams 27 times previously, and are winless in the last three away trips to the country. Only clubs from Spain (15 times) and Italy (10) have beaten the Blues more than those representing Germany (seven).
TSV Munich were the first of their compatriots to host the Blues in March 1966, a seesaw 2-2 Fairs Cup quarter-final draw played on a carpet of Bavarian snow. Happily, we won 1-0 in London to reach the last four.
The most recent encounter came in the 2022/23 Champions League last 16, where the Londoners recovered from a 1-0 hit in the away leg to beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 on aggregate, thanks to Raheem Sterling and a Kai Havertz penalty either side of half-time.
The biggest winning margin on German soil was recorded at Schalke 10 years ago this month, a 5-0 group-stage thrashing featuring five different goalscorers.
There is no doubt about the club’s most famous success in the land of Goethe and Beethoven though. That was the unforgettable night of May 19 2012 at the Allianz Arena, when Didier Drogba tucked away the winning penalty against Bayern Munich to deliver our first Champions League triumph.
Conference League regulations
All 36 clubs involved are ranked on the same table. This is the fourth of six fixtures and at the end of next month the top eight will advance straight to March’s round of 16. The next eight must enter knockout phase play-offs in February as seeds, to face one of the unseeded sides who finished in positions 17 to 24. Sides from 25 down are eliminated.
In the event that two or more clubs are tied on points after the league stage, rankings will be determined, in order, by: goal difference, goals scored, away goals scored, number of wins and number of away wins.
The Video Assistant Referee system is used in this competition and a player receiving three yellow cards will serve a one-match suspension.
Know this…
Chelsea’s 16 goals is the most any team has scored across their first three games of a major European group or league stage since 1997/98. It is also twice the total of nearest Conference League rivals Legia Warsaw’s eight this season.
Only four previous Conference League competitors – Marseille, Viktoria Plzen, Villarreal and West Ham United – have won each of their opening four matches.
Heidenheim occupy 99th place in UEFA’s coefficient rankings and are now 15th in Germany’s 18-strong Bundesliga.
Stamford Bridge has accommodated Chelsea crowds greater than the entire population of Heidenheim (around 50,000) on at least 230 occasions.