Chelsea will be playing in the European second tier league called Europa League which are played on thursday nights and is going to be a lot busier for Chelsea in the 2018/19 season as they will be playing in the league for the first time starting from the very beginning.
The Blues won it in 2013 after winning the Champions League the previous season; however they joined the competition halfway after they were eliminated from the group stage of the champions’ league but this time they will be looking to try getting out of the Europa League group stages.
That means Chelsea’s 2018/2019 Premier League fixtures, which was announced yesterday morning will get moved around and those games after the group stages will likely be shifted to the following Sunday.
It’s yet to be known if Antonio Conte , Maurizio Sarri or someone else will be in charge of the Blues for the campaign, and it is likely that the squad will be rotated regularly which will probably allow some youngsters to showcase in the tournament, meaning that the first team players might be more rested.
Chelsea will play Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester City and Manchester United before Europa League matches, which means that these top four clubs will have Champions League games to prepare for as well, and this could benefit Chelsea.
The Europa League final could possibly see Chelsea returning to Baku the largest city of Azerbaijan, is set to be played on 29th May 2019, and Chelsea will find out their group stage opponents on August 31 when the draw will be made.
Europa League group stages
15 September: Cardiff City (H)
20 September: Group stage, matchday one
22 September: West Ham United (A)
29 September: Liverpool (H)
4 October: Group stage, matchday two
6 October: Southampton (A)
20 October: Manchester United (H)
25 October: Group stage, matchday three
27 October: Burnley (A)
3 November: Crystal Palace (H)
8 November: Group stage, matchday four
10 November: Everton (H)
24 November: Tottenham Hotspur (A)
29 November: Group stage, matchday five
1 December: Fulham (H)
8 December: Manchester City (H)
13 December: Group stage, matchday six
15 December: Brighton (A)
8 December: Manchester City (H)
13 December: Group stage, matchday six
15 December: Brighton (A)
Europa League knockout stages
14 February: Round of 32, first leg
21 February: Round of 32, second leg
7 March: Round of 16, first leg
14 March: Round of 16, second leg
11 April: Quarter-finals, first leg
18 April: Quarter-finals, second leg
2 May: Semi-finals, first leg
9 May: Semi-finals, second leg