Chelsea may no longer be playing at the top table in Europe, but they’ll be glad to be back in some form of UEFA competition this season after not participating at all last season, owing to their 12th place finish in 2022/23.
The Blues have won both the Champions League and Europa League in recent history, so they’ll now surely be highly motivated to lift yet another title in continental competition, with Enzo Maresca’s side set to take on Panathinaikos in the Europa Conference League next week.
Maresca’s young Chelsea side should be hungry for success and looking to prove themselves at every turn, even if this isn’t necessarily the kind of trophy most of the fans at Stamford Bridge have been dreaming about their team winning.
So, what can we expect from Chelsea as they prepare for this trip to Greece?
Chelsea team news vs Panathinaikos
The big news for Chelsea recently came from the boost that Reece James has been able to resume first-team training after missing so much football in the last year or more, though it’s still not entirely clear when we’ll see him playing again, and Maresca would probably do well not to rush him back.
Other than that, Omari Kellyman remains a long-term absentee, but Chelsea have an otherwise clean bill of health at the time of writing, so should be able to put a strong team out for this game, even if Maresca will probably also use this competition as an opportunity to rotate a little.
What kind of line up can Chelsea fans making this trip expect to see? We’d venture it’ll end up being very similar to the one that beat Gent in their last Europa Conference League game.
Chelsea predicted line up: Jorgensen; Disasi, Badiashile, Adarabioyo, Veiga; Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall; Felix, Mudryk, Neto; Nkunku
Panathinaikos predicted team for Chelsea
While it’s not exactly a team of household names, these away games can never be taken too lightly by any team, so here’s a look at how Panathinaikos might line up to take on what will be a huge occasion for them as they welcome Chelsea and look to pay their respects in their first big game since the death of their player George Baldock.
Panathinaikos predicted line up: Lodygin; Mladenovic, Kotsiras, Ingason, Jedvaj; Cerin, Bakasetas, Djuricic; Tete, Arao, Ioannidis
How to buy Chelsea tickets
Chelsea’s official ticket page can be found by clicking here, with the Blues’ website featuring helpful information on ticket availability for the men’s team and women’s team, as well as details of any other hospitality packages and offers you might be interested in.
Still, Chelsea tickets are always in demand, so make sure you also take a moment to check out your options at livefootballtickets.com as an alternative.
Getting tickets from livefootballtickets.com also comes with a 150% money back guarantee.
Chelsea-Panathinaikos head-to-head record
It’s always slightly surprising to find this out, but Chelsea and Panathinaikos have never actually played against each other before in a competitive game in their entire history.
Still, the Greek giants have had games against other English teams, earning a famous 1-0 win over Arsenal back in a Champions League game in 2001, while they also snatched a 1-1 draw at Highbury in the same competition in 2004.
They have less happy memories against Manchester United, losing three and drawing one of their four meetings, with one of those being a 5-0 thrashing at Old Trafford. They’ve also played Liverpool twice, and lost both games, all the way back in 1985.
It’s clear Chelsea will be the big favourites for this game, but football is rarely that simple!
