Chelsea’s opponents in the playoff round of the UEFA (Europa) Conference League, which starts next week, have been confirmed as SC Braga beat Servette FC in the second leg of tonight’s Europa League qualifying round. Since we’re in the lower of the two competitions, we were due to face the loser of that matchup (while the winner of said matchup progress to the final round of qualifying for the Europa League group stage).
So, after a scoreless draw in Portugal, heavily favored Braga were able to squeak through thanks to a narrow, 2-1 victory tonight, and that means it’s the Swiss outfit from Geneva who will come to Stamford Bridge next Thursday, the 22nd of August. The second leg will follow a week later in Switzerland.
Servette finished third in the Swiss Super League and they weren’t supposed to have even a fighting chance against the fourth place team from the Portuguese Primeira Liga. But it was close for a long, long time in the two-legged tie and Servette almost staged a dramatic late-late comeback at home tonight, so we certainly can’t take them for granted.
