Chelsea will start and finish the Champions League group stage at Stamford Bridge, with Sevilla our first opponents and Krasnodar the last, and back-to-back ties with Rennes at the halfway point.
In contrast with previous seasons and as a result of the irregular schedule in these unusual times, the dates for the games were not announced on the day of the group-stage draw yesterday. Instead the fixture news follows today’s Europa League draw.
The Blues were placed in Group E along with Sevilla, Krasnodar and Rennes, when the draw was made by former Blues Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda, and the games will be played as follows:
Tuesday 20 October – Sevilla (H)Wednesday 28 October – Krasnodar (A)Wednesday 4 November – Rennes (H)Tuesday 24 November – Rennes (A)Wednesday 2 December – Sevilla (A)Tuesday 8 December – Krasnodar (H)
All these fixtures represent fresh opposition for Chelsea as we have no history of playing any of the three clubs in competitive games. The two matches against Ligue 1 side Rennes have opened up the prospect of Edouard Mendy facing the club he left only last month to move to Stamford Bridge.