Crystal Palace beat Rayo Vallecano to lift the UEFA Conference League on Wednesday night and it served as yet another reminder of how disappointing Chelsea’s own season has been.
While Palace supporters celebrated the biggest achievement in the club’s history, Chelsea are now preparing for a campaign without any European football after their disastrous season ended with defeat against Sunderland on the Premier League's final day.
And interestingly, despite having no involvement in Wednesday's final in Leipzig, Chelsea will be one of the most affected clubs next season.
Chelsea set for Premier League fixture changes
Palace winning the Conference League means there will now be a record-breaking nine Premier League clubs competing in Europe next season.
Team | Competition |
|---|---|
Arsenal | Champions League |
Man City | Champions League |
Man United | Champions League |
Aston Villa | Champions League |
Liverpool | Champions League |
Crystal Palace | Europa League |
Bournemouth | Europa League |
Sunderland | Europa League |
Brighton | Conference League |
That is inevitably going to create major disruption across the Premier League fixture calendar next season, with kick-off times and matches regularly changing.
Any club playing in Europe on a Thursday is automatically unable to play their next Premier League fixture on a Saturday, meaning those matches must instead be moved into Sunday slots because clubs are also restricted from playing on Fridays and Mondays.
The same scheduling rules apply to Champions League clubs competing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with those teams likewise prevented from featuring on Fridays or Mondays immediately afterwards.
Chelsea will be one of the teams most impacted by those fixture changes, which probably says everything about where the club currently find themselves.
Not that long ago, Chelsea were one of the clubs other teams had to work around, but not anymore. Now they're the ones forced to accommodate clubs who are participating in Europe.
Consequence of missing out on Europe
Ultimately, Chelsea only have themselves to blame for the situation they now find themselves in.
The squad has more than enough quality to qualify for Europe, but too many familiar problems throughout the campaign arose which eventually cost them.
Poor discipline was one of the side's biggest problems. The Blues were shown 11 red cards across all competitions last season — a problem Xabi Alonso must sort out immediately once he arrives on July 1. There was also plenty of wasteful finishing with the side failing to convert chances on too many occasions.
It isn't all bad news, though. There may still be some benefits to having no European football next year, particularly for Alonso as he prepares to stamp his way of playing on the side.
The Spaniard will receive far more time on the training pitch to properly implement his ideas, while Chelsea’s squad should also benefit from playing fewer matches across the campaign.
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