Conference League 2024-25

[King Kante 1,527]

Braga or Sevette in the play-offs. 

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/Chelsea-learn-possible-uefa-conference-league-play-off-opponents

 

Edited August 5, 2024 by King Kante

[OneMoSalah 8,810]

Surely get through either one of them? Well I suppose you never know. But still, surely to fuck…

Edited August 7, 2024 by OneMoSalah

[King Kante 1,527]

On 07/08/2024 at 16:48, OneMoSalah said:

Surely get through either one of them? Well I suppose you never know. But still, surely to fuck…

I dunno, Braga are actually a half decent when they turn up and have experience in Europe. If we turn up looking as confused at the back as we have done in pre-season, they could shock us imo.  

Edited August 9, 2024 by King Kante

[NikkiCFC 8,072]

Braga it is. In a week first leg.

[TheHulk 1,944]

8 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Braga it is. In a week first leg.

You mean Servette.

[NikkiCFC 8,072]

4 minutes ago, TheHulk said:

You mean Servette.

2nd time I'm making this mistake 🤣

[ZAPHOD2319 4,543]

 

[Vesper 29,192]

https://www.transfermarkt.com/servette-fc/startseite/verein/61

 

Squad Servette FC

 

 

#	Player	Date of birth/Age	Nat.	Height	Foot	Joined	Signed from	Contract	Market value
1	Joël Mall Goalkeeper	Apr 5, 1991 (33)		1,97m	right	Jul 1, 2023		Jun 30, 2027	€500k
32	Jérémy Frick Goalkeeper	Mar 8, 1993 (31)		1,92m	left	Jul 1, 2016		Jun 30, 2027	€500k
44	Léo Besson Goalkeeper	Oct 27, 2002 (21)		1,87m	right	Apr 8, 2023		Jun 30, 2026	€100k
19	Yoan Severin Centre-Back	Jan 24, 1997 (27)		1,86m	left	Jul 17, 2018		Jun 30, 2028	€1.50m
23	Sofyane Bouzamoucha Centre-Back	May 10, 2000 (24)		1,84m	right	Jul 1, 2024		Jun 30, 2027	€600k
6	Anthony Baron Centre-Back	Dec 29, 1992 (31)		1,80m	left	Jul 20, 2022		Jun 30, 2025	€300k
4	Steve Rouiller  Centre-Back	Jul 10, 1990 (34)		1,83m	right	Jul 1, 2018		Jun 30, 2027	€200k
18	Bradley Mazikou Left-Back	Jun 2, 1996 (28)		1,72m	right	Jul 1, 2023		Jun 30, 2025	€1.50m
24	Malik Sawadogo Left-Back	Jul 12, 2003 (21)		1,75m	left	Jul 1, 2021		Jun 30, 2026	€300k
-	Valton Behrami Left-Back	Mar 16, 2004 (20)		1,82m	left	Oct 31, 2022		Jun 30, 2025	€100k
3	Keigo Tsunemoto Right-Back	Oct 21, 1998 (25)		1,73m	right	Jul 15, 2023		Jun 30, 2026	€2.50m
20	Théo Magnin Right-Back	Aug 9, 2003 (21)		1,71m	right	Feb 23, 2021		Jun 30, 2028	€800k
-	Moussa Diallo Right-Back	Jan 27, 1997 (27)		1,87m	right	Aug 5, 2020		Jun 30, 2025	€250k
34	Loun Srdanovic Right-Back	Aug 4, 2006 (18)		1,80m	right	Jul 12, 2024		-	€125k
5	Gaël Ondoua Defensive Midfield	Nov 4, 1995 (28)		1,87m	left	Jul 20, 2023		Jun 30, 2025	€900k
28	David Douline Defensive Midfield	May 28, 1993 (31)		1,81m	right	Jul 1, 2021		Jun 30, 2025	€700k
8	Timothé Cognat Central Midfield	Jan 25, 1998 (26)		1,73m	right	Jul 1, 2019		Jun 30, 2026	€3.50m
14	Sidiki Camara Central Midfield	Aug 23, 2002 (21)		1,79m	right	Jul 6, 2022		Jun 30, 2025	€250k
26	Patrick Weber Central Midfield	Apr 7, 2004 (20)		1,83m	right	Jul 12, 2024		-	€50k
9	Miroslav Stevanovic Right Midfield	Jul 29, 1990 (34)		1,80m	right	Jul 24, 2017		Jun 30, 2025	€400k
17	Dereck Kutesa Left Midfield	Dec 6, 1997 (26)		1,77m	right	Aug 30, 2022		Jun 30, 2025	€2.00m
10	Alexis Antunes Attacking Midfield	Jul 31, 2000 (24)		1,81m	right	Jul 1, 2017		Jun 30, 2026	€2.20m
11	Julian Von Moos Centre-Forward	Apr 1, 2001 (23)		1,81m	left	Jul 1, 2024		Jun 30, 2027	€1.50m
21	Jérémy Guillemenot Centre-Forward	Jan 6, 1998 (26)		1,84m	right	Jul 1, 2023		Jun 30, 2026	€1.00m
27	Enzo Crivelli Centre-Forward	Feb 6, 1995 (29)		1,84m	right	Aug 30, 2022		Jun 30, 2025	€900k
7	Victory Beniangba  Centre-Forward	Jun 15, 2003 (21)		1,86m	right	Jul 17, 2024		Jun 30, 2025	€500k
31	Tiemoko Ouattara Centre-Forward	May 25, 2005 (19)		1,78m	right	Jul 1, 2023		Jun 30, 2027	€400k
22	Usman Simbakoli Centre-Forward	Dec 12, 2001 (22)		1,89m	left	Jul 17, 2024		Jun 30, 2026	€300k
-	Alexandre Patrício Centre-Forward	Feb 17, 2004 (20)		1,79m	right	Aug 26, 2022		Jun 30, 2025	€100k

Edited August 15, 2024 by Vesper

[NikkiCFC 8,072]

I like that Fofana, Lavia and Palmer are not registered for Conference League. Not needed. Focus on PL. Also others starters we should not use that much. 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,543]

 

[LAM09 6,835]

I feel like Carney not getting a move away could be a blessing for us. His inclusion in our selection should result in some playing time, which is nearly guaranteed.

I'm not sure I can say the same about Casadei.

Lavia's exclusion must be due to his injury problems & the fact we're stacked in MF. James being captain, along with us not being blessed with FB's, obviously meant he wasn't afforded the same treatment (for better or worse).

Edited September 5, 2024 by LAM09

[Vesper 29,192]

Chelsea in a UEFA Conference League class of their own – only complacency can stop them

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5869840/2024/10/25/panathinaikos-Chelsea-conference-league/

Two minutes into the second half at Athens Olympic Stadium, a chasm suddenly opened in the middle of Chelsea’s defence and Panathinaikos winger Facundo Pellistri, a Uruguayan international on the books at Manchester United until last summer, charged purposefully into an ocean of space and directly towards Filip Jorgensen’s goal.

In a truly competitive football match, this scenario would constitute real jeopardy — particularly with Chelsea only 1-0 up at the time — but the mood of the moment was something closer to mild intrigue and it was gone in seconds. The recovering Benoit Badiashile and Renato Veiga forced Pellistri to check his run before he reached the Chelsea penalty area and he sloppily gave the ball away as he tried to offload it to a team-mate.

Within two minutes, Chelsea worked the ball forward unimpeded to the right flank, where Pedro Neto easily beat his man and floated a cross to the back post. Mykhailo Mudryk arrived and headed it into an empty net, doubling the visitors’ lead and ending any pretence of this Europa Conference League game as a contest with more than 40 minutes left to play.

To say Chelsea cruised to victory against Panathinaikos would be a severe understatement. Joao Felix did whatever he wanted, Mudryk had his best game for the club and Christopher Nkunku maintained his impressive goals-per-minute ratio with a nerveless penalty despite rarely having to break into a sprint. The hardest working person in Athens Olympic Stadium might have been the Gate 13 ultra, who dutifully harassed the away side with a green laser pointer all night despite numerous stern warnings to stop from the stadium announcer.

The most charitable explanation for Panathinaikos’ limp display is that they were without several key players on the night and understandably affected by the tragic death of George Baldock, who was the subject of numerous heartfelt tributes from both sets of players and supporters ahead of kick-off. That is undoubtedly part of the picture, but there was something else, too.

According to Transfermarkt, Panathinaikos have the fourth-highest squad market value (€107.5m; £89.7m; $116.3m) of the 36 teams in UEFA’s third-tier competition. Gent, Chelsea’s first Europa Conference League opponents earlier this month, rank sixth in the same table (€68million). There are no prizes for guessing which club is first by a galactic distance and it should be no real surprise that neither match felt remotely competitive.

Enzo Maresca made 11 changes to the Chelsea team that lost to Liverpool at Anfield last weekend. Reece James, Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson, Levi Colwill and Malo Gusto did not even travel to Athens, while Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana are not registered in Chelsea’s squad for the Europa Conference League, yet their starting XI against Panathinaikos still cost more than £500million in transfer fees to assemble.

With every outing, it feels more and more absurd that Chelsea are in this tournament — even as Maresca made a point of pushing back on that particular narrative in his post-match press conference. “If we play Conference, then it’s because in this moment we belong to the Conference,” he insisted.

“If next year or two years we play Champions League, then it is because we deserve to play Champions League. I think football always puts you where you deserve to be.”

But it is worth remembering that Chelsea are only here as a quirky consequence of Manchester United postponing their perennial crisis under Erik ten Hag for just long enough to upset Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May. The gulf in financial resources and footballing firepower between Maresca’s squad and the rest of the Europa Conference League field is bigger than anything seen in the modern history of UEFA competitions.

Fiorentina and Real Betis are at least solid teams from top-five European leagues, but it would still be a major surprise if either of them knocked Chelsea out of the Europa Conference League. The big takeaway from the consolation goals conceded in the Gent and Panathinaikos wins, and the embarrassing near-collapse in the play-off against Servette, is that by far the most significant threat to Chelsea’s chances of winning the only European competition missing from their trophy collection is creeping complacency.

Being such heavy favourites brings its own pressure, but it also offers rare opportunities. For the next few months, Maresca will be able to keep his expensive reserves in a good rhythm of match action without overloading his Premier League starters, a luxury not available to most of Chelsea’s top-four rivals. He will also get more opportunities to see what he has in talented Cobham products like Tyrique George, Shumaira Mheuka and Sam Rak-Sakyi, even if Josh Acheampong continues to be frozen out.

Conference League action can also provide a platform for some towards the fringes of Chelsea’s squad to begin to push their way into Maresca’s plans for the Premier League. Look no further than Renato Veiga, whose versatility is making an impression on his head coach after a relatively assured performance at centre-back against Panathinaikos.

“I just said to Renato, he has played already as a centre-back, a full-back, holding midfielder, attacking midfielder,” Maresca said of Veiga. “He has already played four or five positions. One of my first press conferences, I said that the reason why I really like and love Chelsea is because many players can be versatile.

“In my idea, if they can play different positions, then it is better for the team and especially for the players. Today, if you just play one position, I don’t think it’s enough. You need to learn more positions. Renato, Malo (Gusto), they are playing in different positions and they are doing well.”

Difficult personnel decisions will confront Maresca if he wants Palmer, Lavia and Fofana at his disposal for the Europa Conference League knockout rounds, but he should not need any of them to win the trophy. Chelsea are the class of this competition and it is not close.