As Chelsea prepare for their own return to European football, they have been forced to watch some of their elite rivals taking part in Champions League football.
Enzo Maresca is preparing his side for Conference League action as they enter the Round of 16 stage, with a trip to Copenhagen to come.
The Blues will be hoping for as promising a result as last time they faced the Danish side, when Chelsea beat Copenhagen 2-0 thanks to goals from Nicolas Anelka.
One of the Frenchman’s former clubs, Arsenal, made history in the Champions League by becoming the first side to score seven goals away from home in a Round of 16 tie.
Photo by Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images
Photo by Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images
Former Chelsea academy stars Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly star in Champions League for Arsenal
With injuries plaguing their squad in a similar way to Chelsea right now, Mikel Arteta looked to some of his younger first team stars to get them through the first leg with a 7-1 win over PSV.
Of those, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly played starring roles, combining for one of their first half goals.
What will perhaps be most painful for Chelsea is there was a very realistic chance that one of, or even both of these players could have been performing at this level at Stamford Bridge.
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Both youngsters were part of the academy at Cobham when they were young, with Lewis-Skelly revealing to Arsenal’s club website in 2024 that this is how they met, and are now such good mates.
He said: “I first joined the academy at under-9s level, after I had trialled at Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Since then I’ve been patient, keeping my head down and working. I don’t think there have been significant downs throughout my journey because I don’t see anything as downs – I just see them as learning opportunities.
“Before I joined Arsenal, I knew Ethan Nwaneri because we were at Chelsea together and we’ve kind of gone up the ranks together.”
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Exciting prospects in Chelsea’s academy
Chelsea have a number of exciting youngsters coming through the academy at the moment, many they would do well to keep hold of this time round.
Shumaira Mheuka has been named in the travelling squad for the Conference League tie this week, with him recently coming off the bench to make his Premier League debut.
He came very close to making a bit of history too. Mheuka came close to the quickest debutant goal in Premier League history.
There are a number of other promising youngsters coming through, however some will likely have fears that the big-money signings being made could see their path to first team football obstructed.