The league phase of the UEFA Conference League draws to a close at Stamford Bridge with a capital clash spanning the Irish Sea. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton set the scene as London’s leading club Chelsea hosts one of Dublin’s finest, Shamrock Rovers.
Tonight’s 8pm kick-off is the closest to Christmas the Blues have ever played a UEFA fixture, six days nearer than our trip to MOL Vidi in the 2018/19 Europa League.
Shamrock Rovers are Chelsea’s 100th different adversary in European competition, taking in 35 different countries. The first were Frem from Denmark in the 1958 Fairs Cup.
The visitors' League of Ireland Premier Division campaign concluded a month and a half ago, since when UEFA nights have comprised Rovers’ only competitive action, though they played and lost two friendlies with HJK Helsinki to maintain fitness levels.
Unbeaten in this competition and standing sixth in the table, Shamrock Rovers heightened their hopes of becoming the first team from the Republic of Ireland to reach the latter stages of a European competition by beating Borac of Montenegro last week.
Thursday’s long return journey to chilly Kazakhstan proved fruitful for Enzo Maresca’s youthful line-up, who made it an impressive five wins out of five in the league stage with victory at Astana. As a result, the table-topping Blues are the only club already guaranteed direct entry to the round of 16 in March.
Legia Warsaw’s defeat to Lugano means the Londoners have the competition’s last remaining 100 per cent record. Victory again tonight would also equal our club record of eight wins in a row across all competitions, set in December 2016.
Chelsea team news
Enzo Maresca is expected to rotate players for this end-of-term game against the Dubliners, ahead of a potentially tricky Premier League match at Goodison Park three days later. Each of the teenagers drafted in for the Astana match acquitted themselves superbly, but the Italian might still pick a more experienced side against high-scoring top-eight opponents.
Only Legia Warsaw (two) have conceded fewer goals in this competition than Chelsea and Rovers (both four), but the Londoners have also racked up 21 goals compared to the 11 scored by tonight’s visitors.
Christopher Nkunku has scored in each of the six European matches he has been involved in, including the qualifying play-offs.
Several players who missed the Brentford win for various reasons could have minutes during this very busy period, including Carney Chukwuemeka, Axel Disasi and Pedro Neto. With three goals in three games, there are arguments for Marc Guiu to lead the line, plus Josh Acheampong, Samuel Rak-Sakyi and Tyrique George could offer freshness in positions where legs and minds may be tired.
Cesare Casadei is available after suspension, but Benoit Badiashile suffered a knock in training last week and Wesley Fofana and Reece James are still sidelined, plus are not registered for the Conference League league phase. Marc Cucurella must serve a one-match domestic ban on Sunday, so may start this evening, while Disasi would miss the first leg of our last-16 match if cautioned.
The history
This is the first time Chelsea have faced Irish opposition in a competitive setting. However, tonight’s teams did meet in a benefit match for Paddy Coad, played at Dalymount Park on 2 May 1955, days after the Blues were crowned league champions for the first time.
In what the Irish Times ultimately hailed ‘a grand tonic for Irish soccer in general’ Shamrock Rovers used the wind to establish a 3-0 lead in the opening 23 minutes.
After the break, the Londoners gave Rovers’ defence ‘a terrific battering’ with winger Eric Parsons instantly reducing the arrears, though just 15 minutes remained when Johnny McNichol burst clear to smash in a second. A further Parsons effort was cleared off the line and the Hoops held out for a 3-2 win.
Competitively, the Dubliners have been drawn against other English teams twice previously – Manchester United in the 1957/58 European Cup Winners’ Cup and Tottenham Hotspur in the group stage of the 2011/12 Europa League – and lost all four games.
Three past Hoops players also played significant parts in Chelsea’s history. Winger Damien Duff, now managing Republic of Ireland Premier champions Shelbourne, was a crowd favourite and a key contributor to our back-to-back Premier League crowns in 2005 and 2006.
The Hoops were Paddy Mulligan’s team before Dave Sexton brought the Eire international to Stamford Bridge in October 1969. The versatile Dublin-born defender immediately helped the Blues finish third in Division One, though played no part in our famous first FA Cup success. His most notable contribution came as a regular in the 1971 Cup Winners’ Cup, won by beating Real Madrid in a replayed final.
Another who played for both is prolific forward Bobby Tambling, our all-time record goalscorer with 202 goals until his tally was superseded by Frank Lampard's 211.
UEFA Conference League regulations
All 36 teams involved are ranked together. This is the last of six fixtures in the league phase, after which the top eight in the table will advance straight to March’s round of 16. The next 16 must face each other in a play-off round in February, while the sides from 25 down are eliminated.
In the event two or more clubs are tied on points at the end of 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 cautions will serve a one-match suspension. All yellow cards expire on completion of the quarter-finals and are not carried into the semi-finals.
Know this...
Chelsea have never previously won all six matches in the opening stage of a European competition. The closest we came to perfection was five wins and one draw in Group L of the 2018/19 Europa League.
Shamrock Rovers’ Johnny Kenny leads the way in shots on target in this competition with nine, one ahead of Nkunku and Guiu.
The Hoops’ current run of five games unbeaten in Europe is a new club record.
After tonight, Chelsea will have played two of the three Conference League clubs with a shamrock as their emblem, Rovers and Panathinaikos, with Omonoia of Cyprus being the other.