Legia Warszawa 0-1 Chelsea

[Vesper 29,476]

wooot

Noni on a hat trick

Edited Thursday at 18:18 by Vesper

[TheHulk 2,051]

Only real match will be the final.

[Fulham Broadway 17,114]

Nkunku fucks up again

[Fulham Broadway 17,114]

Dont think we're playing that well the Poles are pony

[ZAPHOD2319 4,605]

It was a boring first half, but I will take it. Leave Dewsbury-Hall in Poland.

[Fulham Broadway 17,114]

We'll be back in Poland for the final

[Vesper 29,476]

26 minutes ago, TheHulk said:

Only real match will be the final.

Betis or Fiorentina

both are by far better than any other clubs in the comp except for us

and they have to play each other

so we dodged a bullet there

[LAM09 6,888]

32 minutes ago, TheHulk said:

Only real match will be the final.

That's the worry. Kean has been fine form for Fiorentina, and it would be their third successive final.

Over one game, I can't see our players being able to raise their game or Maresca for that matter.

[Milan 17,902]

22 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

That's the worry. Kean has been fine form for Fiorentina, and it would be their third successive final.

Over one game, I can't see our players being able to raise their game or Maresca for that matter.

Well, not winning this competition and failing to secure a CL football would surely see him get the sack.

[Vesper 29,476]

44 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

That's the worry. Kean has been fine form for Fiorentina, and it would be their third successive final.

Over one game, I can't see our players being able to raise their game or Maresca for that matter.

Betis is also very good

I am very worried with either one

[OneMoSalah 8,841]

2 hours ago, Stats said:

So Maresca rested Palmer against Brentford only to play him 45 mins tonight. I honestly am struggling to understand Maresca's logic. Colwill also was 'rested' against Brentford but does not play tonight... bizarre.

Out of his depth and baffling decisions, been happening all season, hopefully we pull the plug in the summer. Him & 2 sporting directors need to go. 

[Vesper 29,476]

Legia Warsaw 0 Chelsea 3 – George’s first goal, Nkunku falters but semi-finals in sight

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6264499/2025/04/10/legia-warsaw-0-Chelsea-3-george-madueke-nkunku/

Chelsea continue to find the Conference League a bit too easy.

They made themselves heavy favourites to reach the semi-finals of Europe’s third-tier cup competition with a 3-0 victory at Legia Warsaw, with Enzo Maresca able to manage the minutes of both Cole Palmer and Reece James while also fielding a handful of teenage prospects.

One of the latter, Tyrique George, scored his first senior Chelsea goal to get his side up and running in Poland before Noni Madueke scored twice to give his side a comfortable lead ahead of next week’s quarter-final second leg at Stamford Bridge.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, however, with Christopher Nkunku missing a second-half penalty to cap a frustrating evening for the French forward.

Liam Twomey breaks down the main talking points from Warsaw.

---

George’s moment to savour

It was evident from his ecstatic reaction, wheeling and spinning away towards the corner flag in front of the Legia ultras, that George has been eagerly awaiting this moment.

George’s first senior Chelsea goal arrived on his 17th senior appearance. More than half of them have come in the UEFA Conference League and he has steadily grown in confidence and stature on this stage — particularly as he has increasingly been deployed in positions that maximise his abilities.

Here, he began in his favoured position on the left flank and probed Legia’s low block relentlessly, but Chelsea’s broader caution in possession limited his scope to take risks. His best moment came shortly before the break, running onto a sharp Jadon Sancho pass into a crossing position on the left, with his delivery falling agonisingly short of reaching Palmer.

 

Tyrique George celebrates scoring his first Chelsea goal (Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Whenever words of advice were needed for George or fellow Cobham graduate Josh Acheampong, club captain Reece James was ready and willing to provide them, but it was a subtle tactical reshuffle that paved the way for the young winger’s biggest contribution.

Palmer’s withdrawal for Madueke shifted Sancho to the left, Nkunku into a deeper role and George into the No 9 position, from where he showed natural goalscoring instincts to react quickest to Kacper Tobiasz parrying James’ shot back into danger.

There should be more Chelsea goals in George’s future, but this was a big moment that solidified the hugely encouraging progress he has made in recent months.

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Nkunku’s Chelsea career continues to underwhelm

There was a grim sense of inevitability as Nkunku faced down a wall of deafening Legia whistles and prepared to take a penalty kick in the 73rd minute.

Southampton and Morecambe are the only two teams to have conceded goals to Nkunku since he last found the net in the Conference League against Heidenheim in November. Whether it be positional discomfort, a crisis of confidence or emotional disengagement in what are surely the final months of his Chelsea career, he has receded almost entirely from view.

It was much the same in Warsaw, where he spent the first half either as a bystander to Chelsea’s possession up front or dropping deep to touch the ball in areas Legia did not care about.

Maresca attempted to remedy that at half-time by moving him deeper, but Chelsea’s best football was still played by others around Nkunku — namely by George, Sancho and Madueke.

So when his moment to make a direct impact from the spot arrived, it was no surprise to see Tobiasz fly to his right and beat away Nkunku’s telegraphed penalty attempt.

It mattered not to Chelsea on a night when they still had far too much for Legia, but there will come a time before the end of May when Nkunku hurts his team in a game settled by fine margins — though on the strength of his form in 2025, he might not even make it onto the pitch.

 

Christopher Nkunku had a penalty saved against Legia Warsaw (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

---

Have no fear, Chelsea are here 

The famous atmosphere of the Marshall Jozef Pilsudski Municipal Stadium was the main topic of Chelsea’s pre-match media duties.

Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall were both asked about it and the Italian even revealed he had shown his players clips of the Legia ultras who stand, often bounce, and always sing behind the goal at the north end of the ground.

How would Chelsea deal with it? Ahead of kick-off, the intimidation was ramped up with a giant tifo of a knight using his sword to stab a lion (mercifully, it did not particularly resemble either of the Stamford Bridge mascots, Stamford or Bridget) above the words “FEAR NO ONE”.

But once the referee blew his whistle, the match and the atmosphere co-existed in parallel but entirely separate universes.

Legia’s ultras maintained a constant rhythm with their volume, but so did Chelsea with their passing, and the ultra-cautious 5-4-1 low block of the home side quickly turned proceedings into a glorified possession drill. Clear chances were few and far between in a forgettable opening period — Maresca’s team have now gone 315 first-half minutes without scoring — but there was even less sense of jeopardy.

 

Home supporters show off an intimidatory banner (Piotr Hawalej/Getty Images)

Chelsea did not blink when kicking towards the Legia ultras after the break and were swiftly rewarded for their composure, even after Maresca opted to substitute Palmer at the break as he continues to manage his superstar’s minutes.

George followed up James’ low shot to break the deadlock in the 49th minute and Madueke slotted in from Sancho’s low pass shortly before the hour mark, and then just 25 seconds after Nkunku’s missed penalty. After that, the songs, the drums and the whistles continued unabated, but there was a decidedly low-stakes feel as Chelsea continued to dominate without breaking a sweat.

At least some of Legia’s fans will have another chance to make themselves heard when they travel to Stamford Bridge next week but, on this evidence, it will not affect anything.

---

What did Enzo Maresca say?

“We planned the game to try to have our best players for this game, and to give also a chance to rest players to recover energy, and at the end, I think it was overall a professional performance; a good result.

“Probably, in the second half, we were much better compared to the first half for different reasons.

“I said many times that we need to learn how to play different kind of games. When you face Tottenham, we said many times that they try to press high, there is more space, but when they (opponents) sit back, you have to be more quick on the ball, you have to try to have a shot from outside the box because they are all inside the box, so if you don’t shoot, it’s difficult.

“Then, the first goal, I think, came from wrist shot, you know, a rebound, and Ty (George) was there.”

What next for Chelsea?

Sunday, April 13: Ipswich (Home), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET

[LAM09 6,888]

1 hour ago, Milan said:

Well, not winning this competition and failing to secure a CL football would surely see him get the sack.

And go into the CWC without a manager? 

Unless we get humiliated between now & June, he'll be in charge until our season officially ends.

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

Betis is also very good

I am very worried with either one

I agree. I just feel Fiorentina will have the bit between their teeth after the last two years.

[Special Juan 27,628]

Honestly that first half was fucking tragic, to a point I just turned off after 30 minutes. How so many so called pro footballers can struggle to keep a ball or make the right choice is beyond me

And once again raising my point from the other day...wingers getting at people changed the game

[Reddish-Blue 2,429]

10 hours ago, LAM09 said:

And go into the CWC without a manager? 

Unless we get humiliated between now & June, he'll be in charge until our season officially ends.

Based on our form and the fixtures left, there's every chance we miss the top 5 spots in PL and I don't see us beating Betis/Fiorentina in the Conference League final. 

If Maresca keeps his job after that, good luck to the club as we'll only get worse next season (but we will have two young attacking talents available 😄)

[Reddish-Blue 2,429]

12 hours ago, Vesper said:

Betis is also very good

I am very worried with either one

Pellegrini is a solid manager and Betis have been around that top 6 of La Liga for the past few seasons. 

[Special Juan 27,628]

If we get to the final Maresca will probably put Tyrique George in goal

[YorkshireBlue 3,178]

5 hours ago, Special Juan said:

If we get to the final Maresca will probably put Tyrique George in goal

Is that a bad thing?