Chelsea lost 1-2 to Legia Warszawa in the second leg of the UEFA Conference League quarterfinals, ending their unbeaten run in the competition but advancing to the semifinals with a 4-2 aggregate win.
Cole Palmer had two great chances to open the scoring in the first ten minutes, but he couldn’t break his 14-game goal drought. After Palmer’s misses, the visitors scored in the 10th minute with a clumsy penalty given away by Filip Jörgensen, which Tomáš Pekhart converted into the match’s first goal.
Chelsea found an equalizer before halftime. Jadon Sancho gave Marc Cucurella his third assist of the quarterfinals, restoring the Blues’ three-goal lead. The Spaniard thought he had scored twice in the 40th minute, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Legia Warszawa started the second half strong and quickly regained the lead when Steve Kapuadi pounced on Chelsea’s poor man-marking on a corner kick from close range.
Legia were unable to score enough goals to overcome Chelsea’s 3-0 first-leg win. However, the Polish team will be pleased to have completed their European campaign with a win at Stamford Bridge.
Despite securing qualification, Chelsea’s performance fell short of expectations and continued a troubling trend of poor and ineffective performances.
Enzo Maresca’s side appears to be far from the level they demonstrated in the first half of the season, and if this trend continues, the Conference League title is unlikely, let alone finishing in the Champions League places in the Premier League.
Player ratings from the game are shown below.
Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Legia Warszawa (4-2-3-1)
Ratings Provided by FotMob
| Players | Ratings |
|---|---|
| GK: Filip Jörgensen | 6/10 |
| RB: Josh Acheampog | 6.6/10 |
| CB: Tosin Adarabioyo | 6.9/10 |
| CB: Benoît Badiashile | 7.3/10 |
| LB: Marc Cucurella | 7.8/10 |
| CM: Reece James | 7/10 |
| CM: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | 6.4/10 |
| RW: Jadon Sancho | 7.8/10 |
| AM: Cole Palmer | 6/10 |
| LW: Christopher Nkunku | 6.8/10 |
| ST: Nicolas Jackson | 6.3/10 |
| SUB: Tyrique George (46′ for Jackson) | 6.3/10 |
| SUB: Malo Gusto (57′ for Cucurella) | 6.6/10 |
| SUB: Noni Madueke (58′ for Palmer) | 6.1/10 |
| SUB: Pedro Neto (83′ for Sancho) | N/A |
