Chelsea vs Servette

On Thursday night, Chelsea will face Servette in the first leg of their playoff tie at Stamford Bridge to begin their inaugural Europa Conference League season.

In this two-leg match, the victor will move on to the newly expanded 36-team Conference League, and the loser will be out of the competition in Europe entirely.

Chelsea has made their way back into UEFA play this season after spending a season away from the continent thanks to a five-game winning streak in their final five Premier League games of the 2023–24 season under former manager Mauricio Pochettino.

If Manchester United hadn't won the FA Cup and demoted the Blues to the third division of foreign football, they would have qualified for the Europa League proper and ultimately placed sixth in the English top flight.

Under the guidance of Enzo Maresca, Chelsea kicked off the 2018 Premier League season on Sunday with a 2-0 home loss to the defending champions Manchester City. Goals from Erling Haaland and former Blues midfielder Mateo Kovacic either side of halftime gave Pep Guardiola's team all the points they needed.

Though his team lost, Maresca expressed satisfaction with the way his team played, claiming that they "competed for large parts at the same level and in some moments were even better" than Man City. The Italian also had 'no worries' that Chelsea are on the right track.

Joao Felix became Chelsea's tenth summer addition on Wednesday, while Todd Boehly and company continued their backroom maneuvering off the field. Maresca is getting his players ready for Thursday's match against Servette, and all Chelsea fans hope their team makes it safely into the Conference League.

Last season, Servette made history by qualifying for the Europa League for the first time. However, they were unable to advance past the group stage and were relegated to the Conference League, where they were ultimately defeated in the round of sixteen by Viktoria Plzen.

The Maroons qualified for the third round of the Europa League earlier this month after finishing third in the Swiss Super League and winning the Swiss Cup in 2023–24. However, they were narrowly defeated 2-1 on aggregate by Braga, which set up their Conference League playoff tie with Chelsea.

Four days after suffering a humiliating 6-0 home loss to Basel in the Swiss Super League, they lost their second leg of the match against Braga. However, they have since made a strong comeback to winning on the home front, crushing fifth-tier team Signal 7-1 in the Swiss Cup first round on Sunday.

Since taking over in July, former Estonian manager Thomas Haberli has won three of his six games in command of Servette. The 50-year-old hopes that his team will give Chelsea the same kind of effort that they did in their two-leg matchup with Braga.

Four days after suffering a humiliating 6-0 home loss to Basel in the Swiss Super League, they lost their second leg of the match against Braga. However, they have since made a strong comeback to winning on the home front, crushing fifth-tier team Signal 7-1 in the Swiss Cup first round on Sunday.

Since taking over in July, former Estonian manager Thomas Haberli has won three of his six games in command of Servette. The 50-year-old hopes that his team will give Chelsea the same kind of effort that they did in their two-leg matchup with Braga.

Servette, who have only defeated two English teams in European competition—Living 3-2 on aggregate against Liverpool in the 1971–72 Cup Winners' Cup despite winning the first leg 2-1—and Derby Country 6-2 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup three years later, are the teams that Servette will face at Stamford Bridge.