Chelsea Football Club play Greek side Panathinaikos in a Uefa Europa Conference League clash, early on Thursday evening British time. While the UECL may not be the most rewarding, glamorous or inviting European competition in the world, it is an entry point for the Blues to reinvent or find themselves once again. Lifting this trophy would be huge for the modern incarnation of CFC. Not to mention a feather in the cap of the collective squad and currently optimistic Chels' manager Enzo Maresca.
A starting point for greatness? Winning the Conference League would also guarantee the west Londoners a place in the 2025/26 Europa League Group Stage proper. A winner's bonus which is almost identical to being triumphant in the FA Cup. That is, providing Chelsea don't gain Champions League qualification via their Premier League finishing position; the Liverpool performance somewhat heavily dented that dream. But we are getting ahead of ourselves; let's see how the Blues are likely to line up against the Shamrock in midweek first. Maresca has a second starting side all ready to go!
The Blues are so confident of qualifying for the knockout round of the Euro tournament that they left a few stars out of the roster. Among the outstanding players omitted from the UECL roster was Cole Palmer. Yeah that's right, Palmer won't feature in the group stage at all! And it lasts for another couple of months at least.
Chelsea did this to 'protect' their prize asset with much work remaining in the English top-flight. Others were similarly intentionally disregarded due to their standing amid recently returning from serious injuries and various fitness problems.
Yet Chels should still easily qualify for the next phase of the competition. It must be said and acknowledged that the standard of many organisations is below the capital club. Even the second XI are capable of battling and outclassing their way to the top of the group.
Chelsea's selection against Gent in the previous European encounter was similar to the one before that against Servette, in the UEFA Playoffs. In fact, there's a second choice team at Stamford Bridge; they'll feasibly represent the club in cup matches and at this early point competing in Europe:
Filip Jorgensen; Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Tosin Adarabioyo, Renato Veiga; Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall; Cesare Casadei; Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk; Christopher Nkunku.
For Chelsea fans who have been following the team since the early 2000s or before, a trip to Greece is nothing new. The Blues have been all over the continent and beyond over the years.
But for some of the younger players in the squad, going to play in these places is rather new and exciting, and brings a whole new set of challenges and opportunities to develop them. A trip to Greece isn’t as unique as the trip to Kazakhstan we’ve got coming up in December, but it’s still an interesting trip outside our comfort zone.
Manager Enzo Maresca actually spent a year playing in Greece, so he knows what he’s getting himself in for. In his press conference yesterday he was asked about how his team would cope with what could be a very intense atmosphere when they play against Panathinaikos in Athens.
“I’m from Italy and I know that it’s [the atmosphere] is very close to Italy. It’s similar. As you said, it’s a different environment, but it’s nice, I think,” Maresca said.
“I don’t think tomorrow’s environment is worse or better than Anfield last Sunday. So I think the players are quite good at dealing with that.”
Maresca played for Olympiakos, the sworn rivals of Panathinaikos, so he could be in for an especially spicy welcome from the supporters in tonight’s game.
He’s right that it shouldn’t be any worse than playing at Anfield on Sunday, although it will be difficult in a different sort of way. In any case, seeing the players build experience playing in all manner of tricky atmospheres across the continent is just what we want, and we hope that the B team put out tonight can get the job done with a minimum of fuss.
