PSG and Newcastle emerge as likely opponents. Learn how their first-leg results narrow Chelsea's path to the Champions League next stage.
Last month, Chelsea pulled off an impressive 3-2 victory over Napoli in Naples to secure a top-eight spot in the UEFA Champions League.
A few years ago, the idea of celebrating your team playing fewer games would have been. But such is the hectic schedule of football these days that any time off will be met with open arms.
Had Chelsea not secured a top-eight spot, they would have been playing in the play-off round both this week and next week. Instead, Liam Rosenior gets two free weeks on the training ground.
After the play-off draw was made a couple of weeks ago, it was confirmed that the Blues would be playing their round of 16 tie against one of these four teams: Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, Qarabag and Newcastle United.
Well, after the first legs of both games, we now have a better idea of who Rosenior's side could be playing in that last 16 tie.
On Tuesday evening, PSG came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 away to Monaco, in a very frustrating game from a Chelsea perspective. This win all but secures the Parisians' place in the round of 16. The opportunity to play Monaco in a knockout round - with all due respect to the side from Southern France - would have been a huge opportunity for the club.
Then, on Wednesday night, Newcastle dispatched Qarabag with a 6-1 victory in Baku. This may have seemed straightforward on paper, but Chelsea fans know all too well that it is not an easy place to go, after the 2-2 draw in the league phase earlier on this season.
So, as it stands, barring very unlikely second-leg results, Rosenior's side will be facing either PSG or Newcastle in the round of 16. It does not feel disrespectful to hope that it will be the latter.
If it does prove to be the Geordies, then, in a very peculiar quick, Chelsea will face Eddie Howe's side three times in a row next month, with a Premier League fixture at Stamford Bridge sandwiched in between the two legs.
Furthermore, it is useful for fans to remember that, by virtue of securing that top-eight spot, the Blues will be at home for the second leg of the tie, and indeed for any tie against a side that finished below sixth in the league phase of the competition.
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