After seven rounds in the “league phase” (née “group stage”) of the Champions League, only two teams are guaranteed to finish in the top eight and automatically advance to the Round of 16, Arsenal and Bayern Munich. That means six spots are still up for grabs to get to skip the first knockout round.
Chelsea come into this final matchday exactly in eighth place, level on 13 points with seven other teams: two with better goal difference (PSG and Newcastle United, who play each other) and five with worse goal difference (Barcelona, Sporting CP, Manchester City, Atlético Madrid, and Atalanta — all with winnable matchups). So we’re guaranteed to advance to the first knockout round, but if we can win in Naples (and hopefully not need to win by more than one), we can skip straight to the second.
That’s easier said than done. Last time (and only time we were here), we were an Ashley Cole goal-line clearance away from losing by three. As it were, we only lost 3-1, which, as we know and still fondly remember, we would overturn in extra time in the second leg, 4-1, and thus be on our way to winning the 2012 Champions League.
There’s no second leg this time. There’s either a win and a chance to advance directly to the Round of 16 (depending on other results), or any other result, and a spot in the first knockout round (Round of 32, if you will). All games in this final league-phase round will be played at the same time.
With reports coming in tonight of Chelsea fans being attacked in the city center by local “ultras” with knives — two sent to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, as confirmed by the club — we’re going to have to pay great attention on and off the pitch.
Date / Time: Wednesday, January 28, 2026, 20.00 GMT; 3pm EST; 1:30am IST (next day)
Venue: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (the San Paolo renamed after the legend himself in 2020)
Referee: Clément Turpin (on pitch); Jérôme Brisard (VAR)
Forecast: chance of thunderstorms, and not just the ones names Antonio Conte
On TV: TNT Sports 4 (UK); none (USA); none (India); SuperSport Football Plus (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: discovery+ (UK); Paramount+ (USA); Sony LIV (India); DStv Now
Napoli team news: Conte led Napoli to the league title last year, their fourth and his fifth (in Italy), becoming the first coach to win the Scudetto with three different teams. The second, as it tends to happen, hasn’t quite gone as amazingly as the first, with the Partenopei nine points adrift of league-leaders Inter, and just barely hanging on to fourth place in Serie A. They have just one win in their last six games in all competitions and lost 3-0 to Juventus over the weekend. They need a result here just to avoid elimination.
That said, they have not lost at home all season, in any competitions, and have already won a trophy by winning the Italian Super Cup in early December.
Injuries have been a big problem for them this year, with Conte likening their situation to a floundering ship caught in a storm. He may not be Christopher Nolan, but he sure loves to paint a moving picture.
“What I told the boys is that nobody gets off the boat. The boat is out at sea in a storm, but nobody gets off. We all have to be good at handling this moment, which has been on for a while. The storm is not over, and it won’t be anytime soon, so let’s all get ready, and what we must do is not lose confidence, not lose self-belief, not lose enthusiasm. The very things that have set us apart so far, because up to now, extraordinary things have been done, while dealing with very serious situations.”
-Antonio Conte; source: Football-Italia
Among the missing from said boat are ex-Chelsea duo Billy Gilmour and Kevin De Bruyne — though Gilmour may been spotted bobbing in the waves — plus the likes of Matteo Politano, Amir Rrahmani, Frank Anguissa, and David Neres, who had ankle surgery just the other day. Neres was third on the team in goals and will be greatly missed. First-choice goalkeeper Vanja Milinković-Savić is also out, though his backup, last year’s starter Alex Meret is no slouch either.
Our former favorite prodigal son, Romelu Lukaku has also struggled with injuries all season, though he has recently returned to fitness, making his season debut off the bench on Sunday, and will likely feature in some capacity. In his stead, the line has been led decently enough by Manchester United castoff (loanee) Rasmus Højlund with nine goals, though their biggest goal-threat continues to be fellow former Red Devil, Scott McTominay, who continues to defy expectations with actual greatness and has become the city’s favorite son. He has four of Napoli’s seven goals in this competition.
Chelsea team news: Cole Palmer has traveled and is in line to feature after missing out over the weekend. Palmer has not been fully fit all season, and even when he’s played, he’s been clearly subpar. And in addition to that persistent groin injury, he’s been dealing with some other knock recently as well. He probably should’ve had the surgery that was on the table some months ago, but here we are, trying to manage the injury instead, with predictably mediocre results.
Roméo Lavia has not traveled, though he’s back in training and possibly on course to play actual minutes in the near future. We’ll believe it when we see it. Also not traveling are the previously injured trio of Levi Colwill, Dário Essugo, and Tosin Adarabioyo. Backup goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen is in the squad after missing the weekend with a minor knock.
Liam Rosenior has won four of his five games in charge of the team, including the last three on the bounce. He’s trying to do what two of our last three mid-season (non-caretaker) appointees have managed: to win the Champions League!
Previously: The last time we played Napoli remains perhaps my favorite non-final of all time.
