Chelsea booked their place in the UEFA Conference League semi-finals, but did so in unconvincing fashion, suffering a 2-1 defeat to Legia Warsaw on the night and scraping through 4-2 on aggregate. The full-time whistle was met with a chorus of boos from the Stamford Bridge faithful, marking a second underwhelming home display in just four days.
Much like in Sunday’s disappointing draw with Ipswich, the Blues made a lively start, only to concede from the visitors’ very first attack. Filip Jorgensen brought down Tomas Pekhart in the area, and the striker made no mistake from the spot to give Legia hope of a dramatic comeback. Legia boss Gonçalo Feio had insisted pre-match that his team would “dare to dream” if they scored first—and for a brief spell, that dream felt alive.
Soon after, Ryoya Morishita came agonizingly close to doubling the visitors’ lead when he latched onto a ball in behind, only to drag his shot just wide of the far post. The home crowd grew increasingly restless, a tension only partially eased when Marc Cucurella—surprisingly Chelsea’s top Premier League scorer in 2025—converted Jadon Sancho’s low cross to level the score on the night just before half-time.
But the second half brought more frustration. Claude Gonçalves’ driven effort from a corner found Steve Kapuadi, who bundled the ball over the line to restore Legia’s lead. The visitors appealed for another penalty shortly after when Jorgensen appeared to clatter into Luquinhas after spilling a cross, but neither referee Alejandro Hernandez nor VAR Guillermo Cuadra were moved to act.
From there, Chelsea managed to hold their aggregate advantage without further scares, but the final whistle was again greeted by dissatisfaction from the stands. The result was enough to send Enzo Maresca’s side into the semi-finals, where they will meet either Djurgårdens IF or Rapid Vienna, with the two legs scheduled for May 1 and May 8.
Despite progression, Chelsea’s lacklustre display will raise fresh concerns over consistency and performance levels, especially in front of their home support, who made their displeasure clear once more.
