Chelsea to face AC Milan, Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League group stage
Chelsea are set to face Italian champions AC Milan, Austrian champions RB Salzburg and Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb in their group-stage of this season’s Champions League (h/t Football.London).
The Blues, who last won the competition in 2021 under Thomas Tuchel, were in pot two of the draw. After having a first look at the teams they have drawn, it seems like a decent group for them, considering the big teams who could have joined, especially from pot one.
However, no disrespect to three teams here, who have put their name on the hat on merit, having won their respective country’s top-flight leagues last season.
This season’s Champions League group-stage games will be cramped between the first week of September and the first week of November due to the World Cup. So, it might become tough even for top teams like Chelsea to be at their best in every group game, with testing Premier League games around.
Thomas Tuchel will have his work cut out in order to make his squad to play six European games, equally divided home and away and come up with enough points to either win the group or come second in order to quality for the knockout rounds.
Chelsea have been linked with a move for AC Milan’s Rafael Leao this summer, although, as of now, that doesn’t seem likely to happen in the next few days before the deadline. With this fixture now confirmed, the Italians wouldn’t be wanting their key forward to leave.
For now, the attention should turn towards the next three league games coming in space of eight days, before the Champions League officially kick starts.
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- Frenkie de Jong likely to stay at Barcelona amid Chelsea interest
The Blues face Leicester City at home on Saturday, before travelling to Southampton on Tuesday and rounding off the week with a London derby at home to West Ham United next Sunday.