Chelsea is one of five English teams that have automatically qualified for the Champions League round of 16. Only Newcastle United narrowly missed out on a top-eight finish and will have to face a playoff fixture.
The Blues are two-time Champions League winners and the current Club World Cup winners. Therefore, there will always be an expectation on them to perform. However, since the Club World Cup win in America last summer, it has not all been well at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca was sacked at the turn of the year and replaced by Liam Rosenior from Chelsea's sister club Strasbourg. Rosenior has limited expereince having previously only managed Derby County and Hull City before the Ligue 1 side.
Despite this, Rosenior has won five of his six games in charge of Chelsea. The only defeat came in the first leg of their EFL Cup tie with Arsenal. Rosenior is not the big-name appointment that Blues fans are used to. However, he still managed to beat former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, who is now the boss at Napoli, 3-2 last night.
The result showed that Rosenior has what it takes to beat top sides on the continent. However, a tricky round of 16 tie could be on the cards for the Blues.
Who could Chelsea face in the round of 16?
Chelsea will face either Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle, AS Monaco, or Qarabag in the last 16. PSG will, of course, be the team they would want to avoid. The Ligue 1 leaders will be looking to avenge their defeat in the Club World Cup final.
The Blues would be expected to beat Monaco, who are as low as 10th in French soccer's top flight. Chelsa have already played Qarabag this season, in a match that ended in a surprise 2-2 draw. However, across two legs, the Blues will no doubt be the favorites.
An all-Premier League tie with Newcastle could go either way. When the two sides met in the league earlier in the season, the match finished 2-2. The match would be a thrilling encounter between two sides with fairly new owners who have brought about much change to their clubs.
The draw for the playoffs is this Friday, where the pool of teams Chelsea will face will be narrowed down to two. The last 16 draw will then be made on February 27, with the ties to be played on March 10/11 and 17/18.