Chelsea learn route to Conference League final as knockout draw completed | OneFootball

Competition favourites can plot path through to Wroclaw showpiece but must be wary of upsets

Out of the hat: Chelsea have been handed a kind draw on paper in the Conference League knockout rounds

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Chelsea have discovered their last-16 opponents and potential route to the final of the Conference League.

The Blues remain firm favourites to win Europe’s revamped tertiary club competition this season, having stormed to top spot in the new league phase by winning all six matches and scoring 26 goals while conceding just five in reply with a second-string team.

Chelsea easily avoided a two-legged knockout play-off tie and advanced directly through to the last 16, where they will now face FC Copenhagen next month.

The Danish outfit finished down in 18th place during the league phase after winning only two games and had to contest a dramatic play-off clash against Heidenheim, whom Chelsea beat earlier in the competition, losing 2-1 at home last week before bouncing back to win the second leg 3-1 in Germany on Thursday night as Mexico winger Rodrigo Huescas popped up with the crucial goal in extra time.

Chelsea will visit Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium for the first leg on March 6 before returning to Stamford Bridge for the decider one week later, on March 13. The latter fixture comes just three days before Enzo Maresca’s side travel to Arsenal for a London derby in the Premier League before the international break.

If Chelsea get past Copenhagen as expected, then they will face either Norwegian team Molde or Polish side Legia Warsaw in the quarter-finals, with the second leg away from home.

Win that too and a semi-final looms against either Cypriot side Pafos, Djurgarden of Sweden, Bosnian team Borac or Austrian outfit Rapid Vienna, with the second leg again away.

If Chelsea were to get to the final in the Polish city of Wroclaw on May 28, then it could be that the likes of Real Betis or Fiorentina are waiting for them.

Betis could have faced Chelsea in the last 16 but now take on Portuguese side Vitoria SC instead, while Fiorentina have a potentially tough test against Panathinaikos, another team beaten by Chelsea during the league phase.

Elsewhere in the last 16, Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok meet Cercle Brugge of Belgium and Slovenian side Celje have been paired with Swiss team FC Lugano. Pafos meet Djurgarden and Borac take on Rapid Vienna.

Chelsea route to Conference League final

Last 16: FC Copenhagen

Quarter-finals: Molde or Legia Warsaw

Semi-finals: Borac or Rapid Vienna or Pafos or Djurgarden

Final: Real Betis or Vitoria SC or Jagiellonia Bialystok or Cercle Brugge or Celje or FC Lugano or Panathinaikos or Fiorentina