4 reasons why Chelsea could win the Europa League
The 2018/2019 group stage of Europe's second-tier club competition kicked off on Thursday, with 48 clubs beginning their quest to triumph in the tournament.
Though not as valued as its more glamorous sibling, the Europa League is still a prestigious competition in its own right and represents the only shot at European glory for some of the smaller clubs, as well as automatic qualification and top seeding in the next UEFA Champions League.
Most of the 48 clubs are seasoned Europa campaigners, as their relatively small stature compared to the bigger European teams makes the Champions League a step too high for them. However, a select few are more accustomed to challenging for the Champions League and only find themselves in the Europa League due to some unfortunate circumstances.
One of the clubs in the latter category is Chelsea, with The Blues representing the top echelon of European club football. They are one of the most successful clubs in recent seasons, winning a plethora of domestic titles, and triumphed in the UCL in 2012 and Europa League a season later.
Last season, internal wranglings between the board and manager Antonio Conte as well as reported clashes between the Italian and some of his players led to a woeful underperformance by the Londoners just a season on from winning the Premier League, and led to the dismissal of Conte, with The Blues finishing in fifth place thus failing to qualify for the UCL.
Even though Chelsea would rather be testing their might with the continent's finest, the fact that they would not contest in the UCL for at least another season means that they must make the most of their present situation and go all out in the competition. Here are four reasons why Chelsea would win the Europa League.
#4 They are the best club in the competition
Chelsea's status as one of the biggest clubs in the world sees them rightly installed as the favorite to win the competition, as they are so far ahead of the other 47 teams in terms of pedigree that it is hard to see beyond them as winners of the tournament.
The 2017 Premier League winners were drawn in the same group as Videoton, Bate Borisov and PAOK, and with all due respect to the trio, none of them is anywhere close to the level of Chelsea. Elsewhere in the competition, the story is the same, and the closest teams to Chelsea in terms of pedigree and caliber of players are Arsenal, Marseille, and Lazio who are still some way off The Blues.
More often than not, favorites for tournaments usually prevail in the competition, and like recent years in 2017 and 2018 where Manchester United and Atletico Madrid's class shone through en-route lifting the competition, Chelsea's superior ability could see them hold aloft the Europa League at the Baku Olympic Stadium come May next year.