Chelsea route to Conference League final confirmed as Enzo Maresca learns last-16 opponents

Chelsea will play FC Copenhagen in the last-16 of the Conference League. The two clubs were paired together at Friday's UEFA draw in Switzerland.

Enzo Maresca's side are the clear favourites to win the competition and cruised through the group phase, winning all six matches, scoring 26 goals in the process. That is already the most that any side has scored in a single Conference League campaign despite the knockout stage only just kicking off.

They will now face Danish opponents in the next round. Copenhagen overcame a play-off tie in the past fortnight, beating Heidenheim over two legs.

The four teams Chelsea could play had already been narrowed down due to the league stage standings. Heidenheim, who played Copenhagen in the play-offs, and Gent - losers to Betis - had already been beaten by Maresca's side earlier in the season and would have set up a repeat meeting but both fell to defeat, regardless.

A dramatic Thursday night second-leg encounter for Copenhagen went to extra after recovering from their 2-1 aggregate deficit to level things up. They won 4-3 across the two games after a 113th-minute strike.

Copenhagen will now host Chelsea on March 16. The reverse game at Stamford Bridge will be one week later on March 13. Chelsea have also learned who their potential quarter-final and semi-finals matches could be against too.

The Blues have been drawn into the green side of the bracket and cannot face second seed Vitoria SC from Portugal until the final, should both clubs get there. That is due to the new UEFA tournament structure which attempts to reward teams for their group phase performance.

This means that they also know their potential quarter-final and semi-final opponents as well. Should Chelsea beat Copenhagen they will face the winner of Molde vs Legia Warszawa.

Then, whoever progresses from that round will be in the semi-final on the other side of the bracket, coming up against one of Real Betis, Vitoria SC, Jagiellonia Bialystok, Cercle Brugge, Celje, FC Lugano, Panathinaikos, or Fiorentina.

The journey cross Europe will take Chelsea to Denmark and then could send them to Poland (before the final) or Norway. The semi-finals include teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Sweden, and Cyprus.

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