Servette host Chelsea tonight at 8:30pm in the Conference League play-off return leg. Beaten 2-0 in London in the first leg, Geneva need a feat to reach the group stage.
However, Chelsea seems to have found their form again. On Sunday in the Premier League, the Blues won 6-2 at Wolverhampton, thanks in particular to a hat-trick from Madueke and a Palmer on fire, with a goal and three assists. The mission of the Servettiens therefore looks very difficult.
‘Make the impossible possible’: this is the plea formulated by Thomas Häberli on the eve of crossing swords with Chelsea. ‘We still have a chance of qualifying,’ says the Servette coach. ‘We must always believe in it.’ But the reasons to believe in it are not legion. There is the score of the first leg, Chelsea’s XXL squad and the absence of a real goalscorer in their ranks to measure the scale of the task awaiting the Grenat if they intend to qualify for the league phase of the Conference League.
Everything can catch fire
‘We shouldn’t talk about a comeback. We didn’t concede four or five at Chelsea,’ Thimothé Cognat emphatically emphasises. ‘It’s ‘only’ 2-0. If we score quickly, everything can go up in flames.’ Buoyed by a packed stadium – 28,000 spectators including 1,200 London supporters – the half-back and his teammates dream of making a perfect start so that this match offers a real duel.
Still in the Conference League, St. Gallen travels to Turkey at 7:00 p.m. to face Trabzonspor. The draw was 0-0 a week ago. In Trabzon, Enrico Maassen’s team hopes to open the doors to a second European campaign eleven years after eliminating Spartak Moscow in the Europa League play-offs. The Brodeurs coach believes that ‘everything is open’.
Finally, in the Europa League play-off return leg, Lugano will also play in Turkey: the bianconeri will face Besiktas Istanbul. The first leg ended in Thun with a 3-3 draw. The Ticino team have a wild card: in the event of a defeat, they will be relegated to the Conference League.
/ATS
