Chelsea face Napoli tonight having already qualified for the next round. So it’s a dead rubber right? Wrong. In fact, this is a massive game.
While the Blues are guaranteed to finish in the top 24, the real prize is finishing in the top 8. That means you avoid the two legged playoff next month, and go direct to the Round of 16.
It’s incredibly tight this year – Chelsea are 8th thanks to their goal difference, but the teams between 6th and 13th are all level on points. To add more intrigue, the two teams placed above us (Newcastle and PSG) are facing each other. So they can’t both go through, and could potentially both take points off each other.
The draw for the playoff will be on Friday – let’s hope Chelsea aren’t in it.
Rosenior faces biggest test of his managerial career to take down Napoli
cl table 8 teams on 13 pts
Napoli, tonight’s opposition, are currently in 25th place, meaning they need points even to make it to the 24 top to advance. Injuries have hit them hard and they’re struggling for form both domestically and in Europe at the moment, but they will not be a walkover.
They have a superb home record in this competition, and the stadium is going to be absolutely rocking for what’s effectively their biggest game of the season so far.
This is a huge test for Liam Rosenior and his group. They need to show they’ve gone up a level in terms of maturity.
In other news…
To win tonight is going to take a huge effort from the Blues – the home team have lost just once against English opposition in their last 11 games.
Two Chelsea fans who were in Naples were stabbed last night, and the club have released a statement about the incident warning supporters to stay safe and telling them how to do so.