The second leg of this Conference League Round of 16 tie between Chelsea and Copenhagen kicks off at 8pm local time and must be played to a finish tonight.

Visiting coach Jacob Neestrup acknowledge his team face an uphill battle at Stamford Bridge after the Blues’ secured victory in the state of Denmark. To be or not to be in the next round, that is now the question.

The Lions lost both their matches in England during last season’s Champions League – 1-0 to Man United and 3-1 against Man City – and will have to beat the Blues for the first time for any chance to progress.

There are few experiences more evocative and soul-stirring than a European midweek under the Fulham Road floodlights, where 20 quarter-finals and 16 semi-finals have played out since 1958.

The Blues have never been eliminated from Europe after winning the first leg away, progressing on all 15 previous occasions, and have never lost to a Danish club.

The Conference League proper has produced a clean sweep of seven wins to date for Enzo Maresca’s men, with an average of 5.7 goals per match at home.

In the event of an aggregate draw after 90 minutes, extra time will be played and, if required, a penalty shootout will determine the winning team.

Whoever progresses to the quarter-finals will face Molde of Norway or Legia Warsaw, set for Thursday 10 and Thursday 17 April. The Norwegians take a 3-2 advantage into tonight’s second leg in Poland.

Chelsea vs Copenhagen – the history

Almost 74 years ago on 15 May 1951, as part of the Festival of Britain, Chelsea hosted Copenhagen (then KB) in a friendly at Stamford Bridge, winning 1-0 with a goal the visitors disputed had crossed the line.

KB were then run by Chelsea’s ‘Great Dane’ of the 1910s, Nils Middelboe.

The Londoners’ first ever competitive European fixture at the Bridge was a round one second leg against Frem (a combined Copenhagen side) in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup on 4 November 1958.

It was an eventful evening as ‘the skill, trickery and sheer strength’ of the hosts proved too much for the Danish amateurs, according to the Daily Herald.

Early on, Shropshire-born defender George Lees opened the scoring with an own goal to hand the Blues a 4-1 aggregate advantage, but the score was suddenly level on the night from the restart through Willy Schone’s header.

Around the half-hour, Jens Hansen had the chance to put the Danes 2-1 ahead but Reg Matthews brilliantly saved his effort and their challenge faded.

Jimmy Greaves sparkled, netting two great goals under the floodlights either side of the interval before Peter Sillett made it 7-2 overall.

When handed the Chelsea team sheet at Stamford Bridge for the first leg of the round two match in the 1998/99 Cup Winners’ Cup, the Copenhagen manager was said to have joked that it read like a wine list, and it was certainly a vintage team – Desailly, Di Matteo, Wise, Zola…

Yet with ten minutes to go, Bjarne Goldbæk opened the scoring with a typically well-struck effort against the holders – who he would join a month later.

A shock was avoided when the ultra-defensive Danes were breached with seconds remaining when Desailly drove home off a post from the edge of the box. Brian Laudrup scored the only goal of the second leg in his homeland. And like Goldbæk, would soon join that night's opponents - a story Rupert Cane tells here.

A chilly night in March 2011 witnessed a 0-0 stalemate despite plenty of shots. The Blues progressed having stacked up a 2-0 first leg lead in Copenhagen.

Team news

When Maresca spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon, the Italian revealed they were still monitoring Cole Palmer, Reece James and Christopher Nkunku following illness.

‘For Cole, Reece and Christo, today has been first session [of the week],' Maresca said. 'Yesterday (Tuesday) they were not here [training with the first team] and two days ago (Monday) we had a rest. Today they trained with us, took part in the session, and we will see tomorrow if we can use some of them.’

Marc Guiu, Malo Gusto, Nico Jackson and Noni Madueke remain sidelined, while Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana are among those unavailable as they are not registered in the Conference League squad.

Conference League knockout stage regulations

The ‘away goals’ rule does not apply in the knockout stages. In the event of a draw after 90 minutes tonight, the teams will play extra time and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out.

The last European tie decided by penalty kicks involving Chelsea was the 2019 Europa League quarter-final second leg at the Bridge against Eintracht Frankfurt.

The teams emerged from extra-time tied at 2-2 but despite César Azpilicueta being first to miss, the Blues reached the final thanks to twin saves by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Video Assistant Referee system is used in this competition.

A player receiving three cautions will serve a one-match suspension. All yellow cards expire on completion of the quarter-finals and are not carried into the semi-finals. So far no Chelsea players are on the two-bookings tightrope going into the last eight.

The final is set for Wednesday 28 May 2025 at the Wroclaw Stadium, Wroclaw, Poland. The winners qualify for the league stage of the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League.

Know this…

Reece James has scored from each of his two shots on target across all competitions this season.

Victory in Copenhagen last week recorded a club-record seven consecutive wins in a European competition.

Noni Madueke played in both of PSV’s Conference League fixtures against Copenhagen in 2022, recording a goal and an assist in Eindhoven’s 8-4 aggregate Round of 16 win. He will be missing tonight's game through injury though.

Maresca has now used 32 different players in this competition with an average of 23 years, 233 days (second youngest behind Cercle Bruges), of whom 12 are goalscorers – the most of any club.

Chelsea have progressed from 13 of the 19 Rounds of 16 we have faced across all European competitions since 2003/04.

This the Londoners’ fifth appearance in six seasons at this stage of a UEFA competition.

Should Chelsea and Tottenham both progress to their respective quarter-finals, the order of Chelsea’s match legs will be reversed, the first being away instead of at home. The same applies to the semi-finals.

Marc Cucurella’s strike against Leicester was our 15th from outside the box this term in our 41st match, three more than we managed in 51 games last season.

Make sure to secure your spot at Stamford Bridge as the Blues bid to reach the UEFA Conference League quarter-finals. Tickets remain on sale for season ticket holders and members in Westview seats. Buy yours now by clicking here.