Chelsea’s massive win over Liverpool on Sunday continues the Blues’ unexpected climb back into contention for the Champions League places alive.
After bad results against Ipswich and Brentford looked to have killed their chances, the Blues have gathered some momentum with a 3 wins in a row, each one slightly more convincing than the last.
Right now, everyone is thinking about next weekend’s game, where we heard to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle in a true 6 pointer to decide who gets into Europe’s top competition.
But coming up before that is another big game – the return leg against Djurgarden in the Conference League. With a healthy lead from the first leg already in place, we should be able to see off the Swedes pretty easily with a mainly second string side. That will put us into the final in Wroclaw against either Real Betis or Fiorentina. If you’re looking for the best guide to securing UEFA Conference League final tickets, now is the time to take a look, before our passage is guaranteed.
Without getting too far ahead of ourselves (let’s not forget, we lost to Legia Warsaw in the home leg of the last round), what can we expect in the final?
Both Fiorentina and Betis will bring a big and passionate group of supporters to Poland, that’s for sure. Both play attractive football and have some really talented players.
Compared to the budgets of the teams we’ve faced on our Conference League journey so far, this will truly be a new level. Given the toughest game we’ve faced so far was probably Copenhagen, facing a Champions League chasing team from a top 5 European league will be a step up.
We still have a budget that dwarfs both potential opposition sides, and squad depth they can only dream of, but we can’t let ourselves get lulled into a false sense of security by the easy games we’ve had so far. Betis are 6th in La Liga but on a 3 game winning streak after a late winner from Anthony at the weekend. Fiorentina are 8th and not in such good form, but a goal from Luca Ranieri at the end of the first leg keeps them in it at 2-1 with the home leg to come.
Whoever we play, it should be a really enjoyable final in a lively location against a fun team that plays an open style. It will be a great way to end the season.
