Chelsea 1-2 Legia Warszawa (4-2 agg): Maresca´s men through despite meek Conference League defeat

Chelsea limped into the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League following Thursday’s humiliating 2-1 home defeat to Legia Warszawa, who went out 4-2 on aggregate.

Holding a 3-0 advantage from last week’s first leg, Chelsea were never in any danger of being eliminated but a dismal home defeat will do little to ease the pressure on coach Enzo Maresca.

Cole Palmer shot wide of the near post as Chelsea dominated early on, but they fell behind against the run of play as Filip Jorgensen brought down Legia striker Tomas Pekhart, who dusted himself down to beat the goalkeeper with power from the penalty spot.

Ryoya Morishita missed a massive chance to double Legia’s lead, and Chelsea equalised when Jadon Sancho crossed for Marc Cucurella to tap home in the 33rd minute.

Legia’s Claude Goncalves shot narrowly wide from near the halfway line after spotting Jorgensen off his line, then Cucurella had a potential second disallowed for offside following Christopher Nkunku’s knock-down.

But Legia re-established their lead early in the second half, Steve Kapuadi heading in on the rebound after Goncalves was denied from a corner.

Tyrique George had a goal disallowed for offside but that was as close as Chelsea came to levelling the match, and Jorgensen could have conceded a second penalty when he lunged in on Luquinhas.

Earlier on Thursday, Real Betis and Fiorentina both sealed their own places in the last four. Betis drew 1-1 at Jagiellonia Bialystok after winning the first leg 2-0 at home, while the Viola drew 2-2 with Celje, sealing a 4-3 aggregate win.

Can you feel unsatisfied after a victory at Stamford Bridge? We think so.

We gave it our all today. We poured our hearts out on the pitch today and even though we got knocked out of the competition, we can be proud of what we showed today as a team #CFCLEG 1:2 pic.twitter.com/g4Clwsqi4h

— Legia Warsaw (@LegiaWarsawEN) April 17, 2025

Data debrief: More blues for Maresca

This was no smash-and-grab for Legia, who racked up a huge 2.22 expected goals (xG) from their 13 shots at a disgruntled Stamford Bridge.

That is the highest xG figure created by any team against Chelsea in the Conference League this season.

Some sections of the Blues’ support have grown frustrated with Chelsea’s patient, possession-based style in recent weeks, and the hosts had twice as many final-third entries as Legia on Thursday (69 to 28) but failed to make the most of them.

While Chelsea remain massive favourites to win this competition, they have only won two of their last five games in all competitions (two draws, one defeat), with a tough London derby against Fulham up next in the Premier League.