UCL Match Preview: Napoli Versus Chelsea FC

On Wednesday evening, Chelsea are in action in Naples, facing Napoli on the final matchday of the 'league phase' of the 25/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. 

It is all to play for going into the final game, and it promises to be an exciting night, with 18 games all being played simultaneously. As it stands, two sides have booked their place in the knockout stages, with Chelsea one of the 14 sides vying for one of the other six spots that would secure an automatic passage to the round of 16.

As it stands, The Blues are in eighth position, the final automatic qualification spot, but they are only above 13th place Atalanta on goal difference, owing to how tight it is.  

There is plenty of narrative heading into this one. Napoli are managed by former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, who could be one of the most marmite managers in football history. 

But not only that. In Sunday evening's defeat to Juventus in Turin, Romelu Lukaku made his first appearance of the season after picking up an injury in pre-season. It feels unlikely he will start this one, but he could play a part off the bench in the second half. 

Last season, Napoli won the Serie A title - just their fourth in history - in Conte's first season at the club. However, this season, with two games a week, things have been more complicated. We've seen that before... 

With 22 games of the Serie A season gone, Conte's side finds itself nine points behind league leaders Inter Milan, and sits in fourth place, just two points above sixth-place Como. 

In typical Conte style, they are seriously struggling in Europe. Ahead of this showdown, the South Coast side find themselves in 25th spot, one place outside the playoff positions, and below the likes of Qarabag and Olympiacos. 

To give Conte and his side some leeway, they have struggled with injuries this season. Kevin de Bruyne has been out with a hamstring injury since October, and won't get the chance to haunt Chelsea one last time. 

As mentioned earlier, Lukaku only made his season debut three days ago, and that was a cameo off the bench. Key midfielder Frank Anguissa has been missing since November, and former Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour has been out for a similar amount of time. 

So, many teams would struggle without so many key players. To make things worse, Napoli has fresh injuries ahead of the game. First-choice goalkeeper and centre half, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, and Amir Rrahmani are both set to miss the game with injuries sustained in the last 10 days. 

Plus, wingers David Neres and Matteo Politano have also recently joined the treatment table, and will miss this game. So, with that in mind, who could possibly hurt Liam Rosenior's side tomorrow evening?

The obvious danger man will be Scott McTominay, who has been incredible for the Naples outfit ever since he joined in the summer of 2024. His 12 goals, including an acrobatic goal on the final day, helped them to the title last season. He has also scored four goals in seven Champions League outings this season. 

It won't be lost on some that the last time the Scotsman played at home to Chelsea, he scored in a brace for Manchester United in a 2-1 win over The Blues, back in December of 2023. 

Truth be told, with all the absences - there aren't many other huge threats in this Napoli side. Rasmus Hojlund enjoyed a positive start to life in Southern Italy this season, but is currently on a drought of seven games without a goal. 

Realistically, Chelsea only has themselves to blame if they are unable to win and secure a top-eight spot, meaning two potential playoff games next month. If that happens, Rosenior will not have a free week on the training ground until March, which is not ideal.   

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