Chelsea face a tense tussle with FC Porto on Matchday Six as qualification from UEFA Champions League Group G remains in the balance.
Whilst the Blues were excellent in their 4-0 demolition of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dynamo Kyiv’s victory in Porto means that things remains tight in Chelsea’s group with just one game remaining.
On Wednesday 9 December, the Blues host Porto whilst Maccabi travel to Ukraine.
Here are the permutations of what might happen…
- If Chelsea beat Porto, regardless of what happens in Kyiv, the Blues will progress as group winners.
- If Porto beat Chelsea and Dynamo Kyiv beat Maccabi Tel Aviv, Chelsea will drop into the Europa League.
- If Porto beat Chelsea but Dynamo Kyiv fail to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv, Chelsea will go through in second place.
- If Chelsea draw with Porto and Dynamo Kyiv beat Maccabi Tel Aviv, Chelsea will go through in second place by virtue of Porto’s superior head-to-head record against the Blues and their own superior head-to-head record against the Ukrainian side.
- If Chelsea draw with Porto and Dyanmo Kyiv fail to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv, Chelsea will go through in second place.
In short, the only way Chelsea can go out is if they lose to Porto and Dynamo Kyiv also beat Maccabi Tel Aviv. Chelsea cannot go out if they avoid defeat against the Portuguese side, but the only way they can top the group is with three points on 9 December.