Chelsea handed last-16 Conference League draw with Copenhagen | OneFootball

Chelsea will face Danish Superliga leaders Copenhagen for a place in the quarter-finals of the Conference League.

Enzo Maresca’s side were handed a two-legged last-16 tie against the Danes in Friday’s draw in Nyon, the reward for their 100 per cent group-phase record which allowed them to top the table with 18 points.

Copenhagen made it to the knockout stage the hard way, losing the home leg of their play-off against Germany’s Heidenheim 2-1 before securing a nail-biting 3-1 extra-time victory in the return to secure their passage.

The sides met in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1998 with the Blues going through 2-1 on aggregate after Brian Laudrup scored the decisive goal in Denmark.

However, they last went head-to-head in the last 16 of the Champions League in 2011 when Nicolas Anelka’s double in the away leg handed the Blues a 2-0 advantage to take to Stamford Bridge, where a 0-0 draw pitched them into last-eight battle, ultimately unsuccessfully, with Manchester United, who would go on to lose to Barcelona in the final at Wembley.

The ties will take place on March 6 and 13.

For Maresca, the competition represents an opportunity to secure a first trophy of his reign following his appointment in July last year.

The Italian has guided the club into the Premier League’s top six but, with just six points separating Nottingham Forest in third and seventh-placed Newcastle, the battle for European places is likely to go to the wire.

For a club which won the Champions League as recently as 2021, European club football’s lowest-profile competition may not represent the big a prizes, but a trophy is a trophy and would represent a building block along the way to where it wants to be once again.

Victory over Copenhagen would pitch the English side into a quarter-final tie with either Molde, conquerors of Irish side Shamrock Rovers in the play-offs, or Legia Warsaw, while one of Pafos, Djurgarden, Borac and Rapid Vienna would await in the semi-finals.

In the other half of the draw, the most eye-catching tie is Panathinaikos’ duel with Serie A outfit Fiorentina.