Chelsea made light work of the UEFA Conference League league phase. Enzo Maresca's side won ALL six of their matches in the new format, scoring 26 and conceding just five. It meant the Blues ended top of the 36-team division on 18 points from a possible 18 and four points ahead of second-place Vitoria SC.
They rounded off their league campaign on Thursday with a thumping 5-1 victory over Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge. Marc Guiu set Chelsea on their way with a first-half hat-trick while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Marc Cucurella also found the back of the net as the Blues cruised to a comfortable win.
The Blues started off their Conference League journey with a play-off success against Servette and have since romped to league phase wins over Gent, Panathinaikos, Noah, Heidenheim, Astana and Shamrock.
Despite qualifying for the last 16 automatically as part of the top eight, Maresca's side won't be back in action in Europe's third tier competition until March. This is because teams that finished between ninth and 24th will have to take part in a knockout phase play-off during the middle of February.
It means that Chelsea won't even find out their opponents until Friday, February 21, with the first leg of their last 16 tie on Thursday, March 6 before the second leg takes place on Thursday, March 13. If Chelsea progress, the quarter-final will be played on Thursday, April 10 and Thursday, April 17. The semi-final is on Thursday, May 1 and Thursday, May 8, while the final is set to be staged in Wroclaw on Wednesday, May 28.
Although the Conference League is not the competition Chelsea would have been wanting to compete in, the Blues have been able to give game time to several players that might have not got much of a look-in elsewhere. The likes of hat-trick hero Guiu and goalscorer Dewsbury-Hall have benefited from that.
And after the win over Shamrock, Dewsbury-Hall reflected on his side's Conference League campaign so far. He told TNT Sports: "Another good night at the Bridge. A lot of people will say we are big favourites and honestly, we probably are, but in football it is not easy to keep winning.
"Six wins out of six is pretty good. This tournament is relieving a lot of pressure for some of the people who play in the Premier League and it's a chance for young academy lads to make their debuts.
"It is a good vibe at the moment."